U N I T I
U N I T I
Today’s travel /tourism/
hospitality industry
Starting up
Discuss these questions:
1. What do you think today’s travel/tourism/hospitality industry is?
2. What types of relationships can exist between the components of the travel/tourism/hospitality industry?
3. What types of accommodations and foodservices do you know?
Vocabulary
Key terms travel and tourism industry hospitality industry cyber fares amenities concierge franchise management resorts full-service hotel timeshare properties condominium condo-hotel conference centers camp and park lodges bed and breakfast (inns) commercial foodservice operations noncommercial foodservices caterers lounges short-order food items private clubs vending services manual food and beverage services
Match the words from the two columns to make up word combinations:
1. Vending a) costs
2. Conference b) shops
3. Lodging c) food-service operations
4. Snack d) expectations
5. Convention and business e) operation
6. Retail f) segment
7. Construction g) centers
8. Consumer h) bureau
9. Commercial i) bars
Reading
T E X T 1
Read the text. Define the main idea of each paragraph. What are the key sentence(s) of each paragraph?
Components of the Travel and Tourism Industry
The industry that you are about to study is a challenge to define because it is large and complex. As you will learn, the numerous segments within the industry make it possible for almost anyone to enjoy a progressively responsible career within it. In this chapter we will focus our attention on this question: "What exactly is today’s travel/tourism/hospitality industry?"
Some people believe the terms travel and tourism industry and hospitality industry mean the same thing. However, we will make an important distinction. The travel and tourism industry refers to all businesses that cater to the needs of the traveling public; the hospitality industry refers primarily to organizations that provide lodging or accommodations and foodservices for people when they are away from their homes. To clarify the distinction between the travel and tourism and the hospitality industries, look at Exhibit 1.1.Although organizations offering some type of accommodations and/or food-services represent the majority of those in the hospitality industry, the diversity of the industry makes it difficult to develop a simple definition. For example, businesses offering conference center services and meeting, exposition (trade show), and entertainment management can also be considered part of the hospitality industry.
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Exhibit 1.1. Components of the Travel and Tourism Industry
People traveling away from home need accommodations and transportation services that, obviously, nontravelers do not need. However, businesses that provide foodservices and destination activities offer products and services that can be shared by the traveling and nontraveling public. As well, lodging properties offer space for foodservices, meetings, and entertainment that are utilized by nontravelers. Also, other hospitality operations, such as private clubs, casinos, cruise ships, vending, and theme parks provide hospitality, lodging and/or foodservices) options for many travelers and nontravelers.
Travel consultants (agents) assist their clients with travel, lodging, and related arrangements. Travel wholesalers arrange trips, including numerous excursions and other activities, and sell them to individuals and/or groups. Travel coordinators work for large business and governmental organizations and may make arrangements for employees who must travel as part of their work responsibilities.
Convention and Business Bureau (CBB) personnel market their communities to those considering meeting sites and to individual travelers. They also help coordinate the needs of groups that host meetings, conferences, and conventions in their areas.
Positions in the transportation services segment, as identified in Exhibit1.1, also provide exciting opportunities. Examples include airport terminal managers and airline flight crew, gate agents, and reservations and passenger service positions. Rental car, railroad, ferry, and cruise ship lines businesses provide additional examples of the wide array of transportation-related positions in the travel and tourism industry.
1. Do you believe that the terms ‘travel / tourism industry and hospitality industry’ mean the same thing? Will you give the definitions of all of them?
2. What are the main components of the Travel and Tourism Industry?
3. What stands for CBB?
4. What opportunities do positions in the transportation services segment provide?
T E X T 2
Read the text. Define the main idea of each paragraph. What are the key sentence(s) of each paragraph?
Types of organizations in the accommodations (lodging) segment
Traditionally, travelers could generally be divided into two types: those traveling for business and those traveling for pleasure. Today, however, there is often a blurring of this distinction. Yesterday, persons frequently traveled on short business trips and relatively longer family vacations. Many cruise ship passengers arrive in or near the port city family members to conferences and conventions, by air and are bused to the ship.
The changes in travel patterns have not lessened the need for the products and services provided by organizations in the hospitality industry. Hotels and restaurants must still meet the needs of both those who travel and those who do not. However, it has become more of a challenge to do this as consumers have become more sophisticated and as competitive hospitality organizations increasingly find more creative ways to serve their guests.
Exhibit 1.2 suggests the wide range of organizations comprising the hospitality industry as we have defined it. It identifies many of the major categories of organizations within each segment of the industry.
Exhibit 1.2 Close Look at the Hospitality Industry
Where can people safely sleep when they are away from home? The answer to this question will, in part, suggest the array of opportunities that the traveling public has for rest at the end of a day. However, many of today's lodging properties remain competitive by offering much more than a safe night's sleep. Amenities can include food and beverage service alternatives, swimming pools and exercise rooms, meeting spaces, business centers, and concierge services to help travelers make many types of arrangements within the community. The term amenities can also refer to within-room giveaways such as soaps and shampoos.
The types of organizations in the accommodations (lodging) segment of the hospitality industry are the following:
Hotels
A hotel may be large or small, relatively inexpensive or more highly priced, and guests may drive up to the front door of their unit or take an elevator up many stories to their room. Hotels may or may not offer foodservices and other amenities, including those just noted. Lodging properties may be located along a highway, in a city or suburb, or at an airport location. They may be independently owned and operated or may be owned by an investor who has purchased a franchise for a popular brand and who has hired a hotel management company for daily operational responsibilities.
Resorts, Timeshares/Condominiums, and Condo-hotels
Most resorts offer all the amenities of a full-service hotel and enough additional attractions to make them a primary destination for travelers. For example, resorts may feature golf, spas, skiing, horseback riding, tennis, and oceanfront or other attractions sufficient to entertain guests for several days or longer. Timeshare properties (also called interval ownership properties) allow persons to purchase partial-year (usually in one-week intervals) ownership of a lodging property. Buyers then have access to that property for the same time period each year. Typically, purchase prices differ depending on the month or season for which the timeshare is purchased. A week's ownership during the winter months in Florida will cost more than a weeks ownership in July. Once purchased, the buyer or others whom he or she desires will have access to a room in that property during that time period every year. Organizations such as Resorts Condominiums International (RCI) have established global networks that allow interval owners to trade their ownership on an annual basis with someone else in another property in another part of the world at the same or another time of the year. Point systems are also becoming popular; they allow timeshare owners to utilize traditional lodging properties for their timeshare.
Condominiums
A condominium, or condo is a complex in which owners can place their lodging unit on the organization's rental plan when they (the owners) are not occupying the unit. A management company markets the condominium complex, including the owner's unit on a rental plan, collects guest rental fees, and hires personnel to provide housekeeping and other services during and between guest visits. In turn, the management company is paid a fee taken from the condo rentals for these and related services. The remaining guest rental fees are paid to the unit's owner.
Condo-hotels
A condo-hotel is a relatively new lodging concept. As implied by its name, it is a hotel with traditional public spaces and services in which some or all of the guest rooms are purchased by persons who can rent units as part of the hotel and receive a portion of the unit's rental revenues for doing so. Rooms are sold to owners who can then use them as much (or as little) as they desire. Condo-hotels became popular in the early 2000s when traditional hotels suffered from excess capacity, and their owners and managers found a new source of revenue for the available rooms.
Conference Centers
Professionals in conference centers (also called professional development centers or executive education centers) assist organizations by planning meetings for their members. Many conference centers are operated by postsecondary institutions that work with associations and large companies to develop and offer specialized programs. These centers may also offer programs to individuals desiring to learn about a more general topic. Large corporations may have in-house conference facilities in headquarters or other offices or retreats in rural or secluded areas. Foodservices range from those necessary for coffee breaks to full sit-down meal service.
Camp and Park Lodges
Many states and the federal government offer sleeping accommodations for visitors to parks and other nature conservatories that are much more formalized than just "a tent and a campfire." Sometimes operated by management companies, these facilities offer accommodations that are frequently as nice as those offered elsewhere in the area.
Bed and Breakfast (Inns)
These units, often called B&Bs, are generally very small (one-to-several guestroom) properties owned or managed by persons living on-site. Guests sleep in a room that is part of the owners' house and generally receive a breakfast meal, the cost of which is included in the guest room's rental price. These businesses are, in fact, the modern-day equivalent of the home owner of ancient times who opened his or her home to greet travelers who needed food and a night's rest before continuing on their journey.
1. What does the accommodation segment include?
2. Will you classify hotels into different types according to their target market, size, location, facilities or ownership?
T E X T 3
Read the text. Define the main idea of each paragraph. What are the key sentence(s) of each paragraph?
FOODSERVICES
Travelers must eat while on their journey. They often do so in many of the same foodservice operations that are utilized by community residents who dine out for business and/or social purposes.
A wide variety of foodservice businesses exists to generate profits from the sale of their products and services to travelers and area residents. These are referred to as commercial foodservice operations. By contrast, another basic type of foodservice, noncommercial foodservices, is not in business primarily to produce, serve, and generate profits from food and beverage products. These two basic types of organizations make up the foodservices segment of the hospitality industry. With these definitions in mind, let's review the types of for-profit and not-for-profit foodservice operations.
Commercial Foodservices
Hotel Foodservices
Dining alternatives in hotels include those offered in coffee shops, dining rooms, and banquet operations and through room service. Hotel foodservice operations are classified as commercial because their goal is to make a profit that supplements that from the rental of sleeping and meeting accommodations.
Restaurants
A restaurant is a for-profit foodservice operation whose primary business involves the sale of food and beverage products to individuals and small groups of guests. Restaurants may have few or many seats; they may be freestanding or located within a hotel, resort, or shopping mall. They may or may not serve alcoholic beverages in addition to food and may have extensive or limited menus. They may offer fine dining at high prices (gourmet food served by highly experienced service staff to guests seated at tables covered with tablecloths and set with the finest tableware), or they may be quick-service properties with lower prices (food served at a counter by a cashier). They may offer a theme such as a spaceship, Italian villa, or jungle setting to provide a complementary dining environment or, alternatively, they may only offer down-home cooking in a dining area with modest tables and chairs and/or booths and counters. Restaurants typically serve guests on-site; however, drive-through (in quick-service) and carryout (in many table-service) restaurants offer alternative service methods.
Caterers
Some foodservice operations produce food for off-site consumption. These can range from a takeout counter in the restaurant or a food pickup area in a restaurant's parking lot for food orders called in earlier, to drive-up windows in quick-service properties. These variations, however, differ from the more traditional catering businesses. Caterers typically produce food in their kitchen for transport off-site to a customer's location for service to hundreds (or more!) of guests. Some caterers also have dining space available for group service at the facility where the food is prepared.
Retail Shops
A wide variety of retail stores selling a wide variety of products may offer food and beverages to their shoppers. These range from large department stores offering sit-down meals, to grocery stores with significant square footage devoted to foodservice outlets, to convenience food stores and gasoline stations with counter space (or even larger areas) utilized to sell beverages, snacks, cold and hot sandwiches, and other items that were traditionally most frequently offered only by restaurants.
Bars and Lounges
Bars featuring the service of alcoholic beverages to guests seated at counters and lounges offering table-service alcoholic beverages generate more revenues from the sale of alcoholic beverages than they do from the sale of food products. However, some bars and lounges offer a limited menu of short-order food items requiring only limited production equipment, food ingredients, and cooking experience to produce.
Noncommercial Foodservices
You have learned that noncommercial foodservices are offered by organizations that, unlike their commercial food-service counterparts, do not exist primarily to produce, serve, and generate profits from the sale of food and beverage products. Most noncommercial foodservice operations are not typically available to the traveling public; however, those available to travelers using public transportation such as airplanes and trains are an exception.
Noncommercial foodservices include those operated by educational institutions offering meals to, for example, primary, high school, and postsecondary students and healthcare facilities offering meals to hospital patients and those in nursing homes and retirement communities. Military services must feed their troops, business and industry organizations must provide meals to their employees while at work, and religious and charitable organizations feed their own members and those within the community who may be unable to buy food for themselves.
Correctional facilities offer another example of an organization that must provide foodservices as part of their purpose, and airline and train passengers may receive meals while on route to their destinations. There are two basic ways in which noncommercial foodservices can be operated:
• They may be self-operated; that is, the organization may employ a foodservice director and staff to manage and operate the program.
• They may be operated by a contract management company; that is, the organization may negotiate and contract with a for-profit management company to provide foodservices for the organization.
The use of contract management companies to operate noncommercial foodservices is becoming increasingly popular, because contract management companies exist to make a profit, the distinction between commercial (for profit) and noncommercial (not for profit) foodservices is blurred.
1. What are the basic types of organizations which make up the foodservices segment of the hospitality industry?
2. What do commercial foodservices offer?
3. What are two basic ways in which noncommercial foodservices can be operated ?
4. Why is the use of contract management companies to operate noncommercial foodservices becoming increasingly popular today?
T E X T 4
Read the text. Define the main idea of each paragraph. What are the key sentence(s) of each paragraph?
OTHER HOSPITALITY OPERATIONS
Sports and Recreation Foodservices
Food and beverages served at tableside in restaurants overlooking an athletic stadiums playing field, snack bars, and products transported to fans at their seats are examples of this segment of the industry.
Private Clubs
Private membership organizations, private clubs of numerous types exist for persons enjoying common interests. These include county golf clubs, city clubs, university clubs, yacht clubs, and military clubs. Clubs almost always offer some type of foodservices (ranging from very limited to very elaborate), and some also offer lodging accommodations for their members and invited guests.
Casinos
Casinos offering gaming opportunities are operated in the United States by commercial business corporations and Native American Indian organizations. Food and beverages and often lodging accommodations are part of the total entertainment package offered to casino visitors.
Cruise Lines
Cruise ships (very huge and very modern "cities on the seas") typically offer a wide range of food and beverage sendees, from fine dining to snack bars, fast-food outlets, and bars and lounges. Sleeping cabin accommodations are also an integral part of the experience being sold to passengers.
Vending Operations
Vending services offer food and beverage products at times when and/or in places where it is not convenient to offer manual food and beverage services to those being served.
Amusement and Theme Parks
Theme parks are generally very large recreational sites that are tourist destinations. Examples with which many people are familiar are Disneyland (in California) and Disney World, Epcot, and Universal Studios (in Florida). Many theme parks offer on-site hotels and numerous food and beverage outlets, ranging from sit-down restaurants with extensive menus, to quick-service outlets with limited menus, to food carts selling desserts and/or beverages and other items.
Meeting Management
Large associations and business organizations typically employ meeting planners to organize meetings, contact speakers, negotiate and select meeting sites, and attend to the seemingly endless number of details that occur as sessions are planned and conducted. Other professional meeting planners provide specialized services for a number of external clients to assure that their meetings are successful.
Exhibitions (Trade Shows)
Many associations schedule meetings and conventions for their members and invite suppliers to their industry to exhibit products and services. A significant number of hours are frequently allocated for exhibits, and a large percentage of the budget of many associations is derived from suppliers renting display booths at these trade shows. Expositions are an integral part of the meeting business, which, itself, is an integral part of the hospitality industry.
Special Events Management
Large casinos and hotels are examples of organizations within the hospitality industry that utilize popular entertainers, theatrical performances, and other talent in an effort to attract guests to their business. Events such as sporting contests, weddings, anniversaries, and holidays create opportunities.
It is difficult to generalize about challenges that confront the Travel, Tourism and Hospitality Industry. However, some concerns can be noted that are likely to face owners and managers of these businesses and those who consume their products and services. As you will note from the following list, each challenge confronts numerous organizations in many other industries.
Changing labor conditions. Concerns about a shrinking labor force, some growth in employee unionization, increasing benefits costs, and "front page" news about immigration issues will likely affect "how business is done" in the industry.
Escalating operating costs. Expenses for energy, insurance, labor, and the impact of increasing franchise standards imposed on franchisees may affect the bottom line.
Rising energy costs. As the cost of fuel increases, for example, hotel occupancy levels may be affected, and the cost of products that must be transported to properties will also increase.
Increased renovation and construction costs. Costs associated with renovating existing and building new hospitality properties are on the rise.
Effects of and scares about natural disasters. Tsunamis in the Indian Ocean, hurricanes in the southern United States and around the world are examples of concerns that can affect the industry.
Ongoing concerns about safety and security. Fueled by recurring news accounts about the "hot spots" throughout the world, persons in general and travelers more specifically are increasingly concerned about their safety.
Increased consumer expectations. Those using the products of and services produced by the travel and tourism industry are becoming more sophisticated. They want "more for their money," and increasingly use technology to help them when making purchase decisions. Accelerating change and merging of technologies. Technology has changed much about how businesses are organized and how work is undertaken. It is difficult (but necessary) to keep up, and to assure that technology is used when and where it is best to do so.
Increasing consolidation of brands and companies. Increasingly, there are fewer companies with an increased number of brands for consumer choices. "Who owns what," "What is the difference between brands," are among the questions that organizations must be able to effectively address for consumers.
1. What are two basic ways of noncommercial foodservice programs operations?
2. What about the challenges that confront the Travel, Tourism and Hospitality Industry?
Discussion/Writing/Translation
A. Discuss these questions:
1. What does the foodservices segment consist of ?
2. What do commercial foodservice operations include?
3. What is the difference between commercial and noncommercial foodservice operations ?
4. How has accelerating change and merging of technologies changed the travel and tourism industry?
B. Write a short essay on one of the following issues:
1. Differences between the tourism industry and the hospitality industry
2. Difficulties of running a hotel
3. The prospects of the hospitality industry in Belarus
С. Translate the following text into English.
Виды гостиниц
Гостиница или отель
Таким термином, как правило, называют те отели, которые располагаются в центре города или городской черте, предлагают широкий набор услуг и не отличаются высокой стоимостью. В них останавливаются либо во время экскурсионного тура (в частности автобусного), либо во время краткосрочных бизнес-поездок. К ним применительна стандартная классификация, и если гостиница имеет 3* — дополнительных «звезд с неба» от нее ждать не стоит.
Бизнес-отели. Кроме того, различают специализированные бизнес-отели, которые имеют свою четкую клиентуру. В них можно найти все, что необходимо для ведения переговоров, устройства конференций, комфортной работы «на расстоянии» от офиса. Бизнес-отели чаще всего располагаются в местах деловой активности — крупных экономических центрах: Сингапур, Шанхай, Гонконг, Нью-Йорк, Москва, Франкфурт и так далее.
Отели-курорты или resort-отели
Каждый русский человек, отдохнувший хоть раз в Турции или Египте, прекрасно поймет, что значит резорт-отель (от англ. resort - курорт). На территории таких гостиниц находится практически все, что нужно для отдыха: фитнес-центры, теннисные корты, спа-салоны, бассейны, несколько ресторанов и кафе. Минусами считается «замкнутость», невозможность познакомиться со страной, ее народом и культурой.
Bed and Breakfast
Bed and Breakfast - бюджетные гостиницы, которые впервые появились в Великобритании. Управляются B&B одной семьей, и зачастую не имеют «звездной» классификации и даже (например, в Англии) статуса отеля. При этом именно в Bed and Breakfast можно с лихвой вкусить традиционной, приготовленной своими руками кухни региона, почувствовать домашний уют и колорит страны.
U N I T II
THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
Starting up
Discuss these questions:
1. What do you think is meant by ‘ hospitality industry’?
2. Do terms ‘hospitality industry’ and ‘tourism industry’ have much in common?
3. What are the main sectors in the hospitality industry?
4. The function of hotel management is becoming more complex. Why?
5. What are the main responsibilities of a hotel manager?
Vocabulary
Key terms accommodation food and beverage location function recruitment and supervision event planning price and staff/room ratio green hospitality property renovation mobile bookings and research franchising accounts visioning the future new management front-of-house operations labor cost issues scope and complexity residential hotel transient hotel customer loyalty
Match the words from the two columns to make up word combinations:
1. To maintain a) bookings
2. Investment in b) the hotel’s image
3. Seasonal F&B c) scope and complexity
4. To expand d) loyalty
5. Mobile e) the physical plant
6. Cruise f) marketing strategies
7. Customer g) line
8. To enhance h) property renovation
9. To determine i) market share
Reading
T E X T 1
Read the text and be ready to discuss the main issues of the hospitality industry.
BUSINESS SECTORS IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
The hospitality industry is a broad category of fields within the service industry that includes lodging, restaurants, event planning, theme parks, transportation, cruise line, and additional fields within the tourism industry. The hospitality industry is vast, and it offers seemingly endless and exciting opportunities for those, who aspire to career within it.
Some people believe, that the terms tourism industry and hospitality industry mean the same thing. However, the tourism industry refers to all businesses that cater the needs of the travelling public, while the hospitality industry refers primary to organizations that provide lodging, accommodation and foodservices for people when they are away from their homes.
There are two main business sectors in the hospitality industry:
• Accommodation – To provide accommodation for people who for whatever reason are away from home
• Food and beverage – To provide food and beverage to local, commuting, transient customers and tourists
The accommodations segment includes hotels, resorts, timeshares and condominiums, conference centers, camp and park lodges, and bread-breakfast (inns).
Hotels can be classified by:
• Location: (city centre hotels, suburban hotels, airport hotels and highway hotels/motels)
• Function: (commercial hotels and convention hotels)
• Market segment: (resorts, health spas, timeshares/vacation ownership and casino hotels)
• Distinctiveness of property: (all-suite hotels, boutique hotels, extended-stay hotels, historic conversions and bed and breakfast inns)
• Price and staff/room ratio
Hotels can be operated in one of the following ways:
• Independently owned and operated
These can be independent hotels, with no affiliation, that are being managed by the owners of the properties.
• Management contract
The hotel owners may arrange to run their properties through a management contract with a company that specializes in managing hotels.
• Franchising
Some investors prefer to use the franchising concept in running the hotel.
Franchising in the hospitality industry is a concept that allows interested investors to use a company’s (the franchisor) name and business format and to expand more rapidly by using others’ capital.
Functions of major hotel departments
1. Engineering
The engineering department is responsible for maintaining the physical plant of the hotel such as electricity, plumbing, air conditioning, heating and elevator systems; and for overseeing all mechanical and technical conditions of the hotel.
2. Security
Security is an important concern in every hotel. The security department is responsible for implementing procedures which aim at protecting the safety and security of hotel guests, visitors, hotel employees and the hotel itself. Examples include monitoring surveillance equipments, patrolling the hotel premises and maintaining security alarm systems.
3. Human Resources
The human resources (personnel and training) department is responsible for hiring, orientation, training, wages and benefit administration, labour relations, employee relations, and staff development.
4. Food and Beverage
The food and beverage (F&B) department provides food and beverage services to the hotel guests and visitors through a variety of outlets and facilities/services. Examples include lounge, bar, coffee shop, restaurants, banquet service, room service (also called in-room dining) and cake shop.
5. Sales and Marketing
The main functions of the sales and marketing department involve generating new businesses for the hotel, coordinating advertising, as well as sales promotions and public relations activities aiming at enhancing the hotel’s image.
6. Accounts
This department is responsible for monitoring all of the financial activities of a hotel. Examples include overseeing accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, and cost control systems of the hotel; keeping records of assets, liabilities and financial transaction of the hotel; preparing the monthly profit-and-loss statement, coordinating with purchasing department and information technology department, and handling guests’ inquiries about billing.
7. The functions of the food and beverage department within a hotel
Food & beverage is a term the hospitality industry uses to refer to all food and beverage needs for an event, dining experience or general catering. The food and beverage department within a hotel consists of many areas and personnel that cater to internal or external guests.
The responsibilities of a Food and Beverage Manager will typically cover a number of areas. They will have the sole responsibility for the day-to-day running of the F&B department and ensuring budgetary controls while overseeing pricing and purchasing in all food and beverage areas. They will also be involved in the recruitment and supervision of a highly skilled F&B team and be responsible for the creation and implementation of seasonal F&B marketing strategies including input into menu planning.
8. The responsibilities of a hotel manager
A hotel manager is responsible for the day-to-day management of a hotel and its staff. They have commercial accountability for budgeting and financial management, planning, organizing and directing all hotel services, including front-of-house (reception, concierge, reservations), food and beverage operations, and housekeeping.
In larger hotels, managers often have a specific remit (guest services, accounting, marketing) and make up a general management team.
While taking a strategic overview and planning ahead to maximize profits, the manager must also pay attention to the details, setting the example for staff to deliver a standard of service and presentation that meets guests' needs and expectations. Business and people management are equally important elements.
The manager of a large hotel may have less contact with guests but will have regular meetings with heads of department to coordinate and monitor the progress of business strategies. In a smaller establishment, the manager is much more hands-on and involved in the day-to-day running of the hotel, which may include carrying out reception duties or serving meals if the need arises.
Issues in Hospitality Industry
• Sustainable Development Calls for Green Hospitality
The basis of sustainable hospitality operation is a three-part balance, expressed as “profits, people, and planet.” By taking those three elements into account, thus, a sustainable green hospitality development program becomes economically viable, as well as beneficial to the community and environment.
• Labor Cost Issues
The cost of labor is the biggest expense in all categories of hotels. Even with the advent of select-service properties, hospitality developers cannot avoid the human component of hospitality operations. While managing labor expenses is important, hospitality managers are also aware that employees are an integral part of the lodging experience. The interaction between hospitality guests and employees has a dramatic impact on the customer experience and the success of the business operation. Therefore, a fine balance must be drawn between cost controls and guest satisfaction.
• Multicultural Issues
Cultural issues have never before been such a crucial determinant of how a large hospitality should operate. In some Asian cultures, for example, eye contact is not sought, as it can make guests feel uncomfortable, while in Western tradition it is equated with openness and honesty. This could be important in defining how staff addresses themselves to certain Asian guests.
• Globalization
Globalization impacts the lodging industry dramatically because it influences the extent of which people travel both within the country and around the world. Therefore, it is not only the economy of the nation, but also the economies of individual countries, that play an increasingly larger role in the financial success of lodging properties. To compete, they must pay closer attention to the trends of globalization. The industry must reflect the requirements of the global village in many aspects of its operations, including food, services, amenities, staffing policies and training.
Trends In Hospitality Industry
Greater Investment in Property Renovation – As hotels start to see the light at the end of the recession, expect an increase in investments to refresh and revamp all aspects of properties. Many hotels have already started on major renovations to lobbies and restaurants, as well as smaller upgrades to bedding and in-room amenities. As the market continues to improve, hotels will make additional upgrades to remain attractive and competitive.
Integration & Globalization - Vertical integration is a trend that began a few years ago. Lodging companies realized that guests’ accommodation needs were not just at one level; rather, they seemed to vary by price and facilities/amenities. Almost all major lodging companies now have properties in each segment of the market. The future of the lodging industry involves globalization. Companies cannot grow unless they venture beyond the United States. American hospitality chains and their management techniques were in demand by many developing countries who wanted premium-name hotel.
New Management - The growing complexity of the customer/employee interaction, driven by technology and the information age, will shape human resources needs in the future. The customer, armed with more information, will expect frontline and other hospitality staff to be at least as knowledgeable about the firm’s offerings as they are themselves. This will be difficult in an industry characterized by low-skilled, low-paid personnel and a high degree of cultural and behavioral diversity among its employees. Visioning the future: major forces driving change in the hospitality industry considers seven areas decisive to the future development of the industry. Each is examined to determine the scope and complexity of the issue and the timing of its impact. That is assets and capital, health and safety, new management, marketing, distribution and capacity management, technology, sustainable development, social issues.
There will be more mobile bookings and research - More and more travelers will be turning to their mobile devices to not only research lodging and travel options, but to book and communicate room preferences directly with the hotel. Mobile channel booking has increased four-fold between 2008 and 2010 according to Forrester Research. Plus, Google is projecting that mobile will overtake PCs as the most common Web-access device by 2013. With travelers adopting smartphones and tablets at such a rapid pace, it's crucial for hoteliers to optimize their website for mobile usage to capture potential mobile transactions.
Brands will put more money into deals to expand market share - The brands are at war for the development deals that have a chance to get financed. Starwood, Hyatt, and Intercontinental are aggressively pursuing the Hilton and Marriott juggernaut. Whether it's key money, mezzanine debt or equity, seasoned developers will have their way with the brands as they fight for share of the new builds.
Hospitality industry in Belarus - Investments in Belarus hotel infrastructure are particularly efficient in view of the forthcoming Ice Hockey World Cup set to be held in Minsk in 2014, active development of tourism. There is a special national flavor given to the hospitality industry by ecotourism and agro tourism. Travel Mail of the UK ranked Belarus as one of the top 10 tourist destinations in 2009.
There 27 hotels in Minsk. At the 1000 residents are 4 places to stay, while in countries that actively promote tourism, it ranges from 10 to 16 seats. By 2015, according to the general plan of development of the capital, this figure will increase to 10 seats.
T E X T 2
Read the text and be ready to describe different types of hotels.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE HOTEL INDUSTRY
The Hotel Proprietor’s Act 1956 provides a clear definition of a hotel: an establishment held out by the proprietor as offering food, drink and sleeping accommodation to any traveler willing to pay a reasonable sum for the services and facilities provided.
As a consequence, while there are other types of establishments which also provide accommodation services (hospitals, university hostels), they do not come under the definition of hotels because they do not cater for the specific needs of travellers.
Hotels can be classified into different types according to their target market, size, location, facilities or ownership. One way of classifying a hotel is according to the type of guest it caters for. Hotels can be divided into commercial, tourist and resort properties. Hotels which offer drink and accommodation to travelling business people are called commercial hotels. Tourist hotels, on the other hand, offer services to people travelling for pleasure. Resort hotels also provide services to people travelling for pleasure and are more likely to be found at picturesque and exotic spots.
Hotels can also be divided into residential hotels and transient hotels on the basis of the expected length of stay of their guests. Residential hotels provide accommodation for guests staying for a long time, while transient hotels are used by guests who stay only for one or two nights.
Hotels can be classified according to where they are located – city centre hotels, suburban hotels, resort hotels.
Some hotels may be classified with respect to their size. Small hotels have fewer than 100 rooms, medium-sized hotels normally between 100 and 200 rooms, while large hotels usually have more than 200 rooms.
Hotels also differ in their standards of services and in the facilities which they offer: full-service hotels, budget hotels, and self-catering hotels.
A full-service hotel provides a wide selection of guest services in addition to accommodation, such as food and beverage service, room service, laundry services and business facilities.
Budget hotels tend to provide cheaper and more basic guest-rooms with limited food and beverage services.
Self-catering hotels provide no other service besides basic accommodation. Guests are expected to prepare their own food, clean and tidy their rooms, and do their own laundry. Such hotels may provide food shops in their foyers and microwave ovens in their guest rooms. Most of these hotels are situated close to highways and are often called motels. These hotels are sufficiently large to provide one car-parking space for every room.
Another way to classify hotels is by their ownership. Hotel ownership can be: private – an independent hotel owned by a person, a partnership, or a private company; a local group – several hotels owned by a local company; an international group – hotel which is part of an international chain of hotels.
1. In what ways can hotels be classified? Do you know some other types of hotels which have not been mentioned in the text?
2. What is the main aim of all the hotels and other establishments which provide accommodation?
3. What type of hotel would you prefer to stay in while travelling?
T e x t 3
Read the text and be ready to talk about its main issues.
SIX SIGMA AND CUSTOMER LOYALTY
Whereas most hotel companies today spend considerable effort measuring the worth of a company and the business it represents, Starwood Hotels and Resorts seeks to understand the value of a single customer over a lifetime. They seek to measure the value of loyalty. To this end, the most significant tool recently deployed is the Six Sigma initiative. Begun in January 2001, Starwood Hotels and Resorts is the first hotel company to embrace this tool that seeks to earn the loyalty of every customer through improved customer service.
My role as Black Belt situates me within a single hotel property, namely the Westin Indianapolis. My responsibility includes the planning and execution of three to four projects per year to improve the various processes that impact customer service. Loyalty of a customer is earned when his/her expectation is met, not only once, but every time. In a dynamic environment such as a hotel, this consistency in service delivery is a challenge. Although it is every employee's responsibility to seek improvements, until now there has never been a single dedicated resource to ensure that this occurs on a daily basis.
Consider the front desk, where our customer has a significant opportunity to assess a hotel's service ability. If our typical guest has the expectation of being checked in to the hotel within two minutes, the goal of Six Sigma is to first measure the process of how we check in a guest. This measure, typically called a baseline measurement, is then compared to the customer expectation. The difference is variation. We often find that our check-in times vary from five minutes, to seven minutes, and at times, to as much as ten minutes. Simply stated, our current check-in process is not capable of meeting our customer's expectation. Their loyalty is at risk.
Sigma is the Greek word for variation. A sigma rating of 6 represents the amount of variation in 1,000,000 opportunities. Based on our front desk example, if we were to improve the check-in process dramatically, to give us a sigma rating of 6, there would only be 3.4 customers out of 1,000,000 who experience a check-in time greater than two minutes. Admittedly, this is near perfection and probably not realistic in real life. However, the purpose of Six Sigma is to know how much variation there is in your current process and reduce that variation as much as possible. A company's overall sigma rating of 3 or 4 would be far above that of the current industry performance levels.
In today's environment where customers have so many options (discounted Internet fares, double points, hundreds of brand names), we fail to recognize that value is created when we give the customer exactly what they want every time they do business with us.
Explain the following words and expressions used in the text:
a) Black Belt
b) Westin Indianapolis
c) Sigma
d) a baseline measurement
Answer the questions:
1. What is the main idea of the Six Sigma initiative?
2. How can variation in your current process be reduced?
3. What is the main problem of earning customers’ loyalty in today’s environment?
Discussion / Writing/Translation
Discuss these questions:
1. How would you define the concept ‘hospitality industry’? What is the difference between the hospitality and tourism industry?
2. What are the main functions of the departments within a hotel?
3. What are the main features of a hotel operation?
4. List the responsibilities of a hotel manager. Which of them are the most important?
5. What are the main issues in the hospitality industry nowadays?
6. What are the main trends in the hospitality and tourism?
7. Take the hotel in Belarus with which you are familiar and see if you can explain the way it works (structure, objectives, management, etc.).
8. What are the prospects of the hospitality industry in Belarus?
9. Summarize the information of the texts to be ready to speak on the topic “The Hospitality Industry”. The first step to be done is to write the plan of your presentation.
10. Choose any question (problem, topic) relating to the hospitality industry and make a 7-10 minute presentation in class. Refer to different additional sources to make your report instructive, interesting and informative.
Write a short essay on one of the following issues:
1. The hospitality industry in Belarus: Past and Present.
2.The main trends in modern hospitality industry
3. What makes a good hotel manager?
Translate the following text into English.
В последние годы сфере туризма появилось устойчивое выражение «индустрия гостеприимства». Что же оно обозначает? Индустрия гостеприимства – это не сфера бизнеса или экономики, это более обширное понятие, включающее в себя туристскую и ресторанную деятельность, сферу обслуживания и развлечений, питания, организация музейно-экскурсионной деятельности и многое другое. Гостеприимство важно не только для отдельного человека, владельца собственного предприятия, но и для всей экономики страны в целом.
Почему некоторые нации считаются гостеприимными, а некоторые, наоборот, чопорными и холодными? Так сложилось не только из-за исторических особенностей: обратите внимание, на то, что экономика стран, отличающихся сдержанными нравами, мало зависит от туризма. И напротив: преобладающе туристские страны гордятся своими гостеприимными жителями и развитой структурой отдыха и развлечений. Все это формирует индустрию гостеприимства.
Индустрия гостеприимства – это не только человеческий подход к обслуживанию. Это также развитые технологии быстрой обработки и подачи заказа, предоставление слаженных технических моментов в обслуживании клиента (доступ в Интернет, качественная телефонная связь, доступные междугородние и международные тарифы), предупреждение желаний клиента. Современный человек готов заплатить приличные деньги, чтобы хорошо отдохнуть. Организаторы гостиниц, отелей и других популярных мест отдыха должны учитывать этот важный момент в планировании и организации своей деятельности.
U N I T III
THE SECRET OF QUALITY SERVICE
Starting Up
Discuss the following questions.
1. What do you consider to be the most important features of a good service?
2. How can the quality of service be measured?
3. Do you know what ‘moments of truth’ are? How are they connected with quality service?
4. What is the role of quality service in tourism? Is it necessary?
Vocabulary
Key terms quality service line-level employees supervisor manager benchmark cross-functional teams empowerment microbrewery moments of truth "wow" factor word-of-mouth advertising zero defects accountability employer of choice turnover rate mission statement continuous quality improvement (CQI) professionals licensing registration
Match the words from the two columns to make up word combinations:
1. consistent a) properties
2. strategic b) selling
3. to minimize the number of c) location
4. service-minded d) employees
5. continuous e) rate
6. turnover f) delivery
7. line-level g) quality improvement
8. hospitality h) staff
9. suggestive i) service failures
Reading
T E X T 1
Read the text and be ready to talk about its main issues.
THE CONCEPT OF QUALITY AND ITS IMPACT ON SERVICE
How would you treat a special friend or a relative whom you invite into your home for a meal? The answer to this question can help to define how visitors to a hospitality operation should be treated. The earliest travelers were offered meals and a safe night's rest by families living near trade routes and were invited into the family's home for today's equivalent of lodging and foodservices.
It is true that guests in your home would not be presented with a bill of fare covering the charges at the end of their visit. By contrast, those visiting the hospitality operation must pay their bill. However, the policies and procedures, service training activities, and basic philosophies of the organization can be developed with an emphasis on serving guests.
Do the terms customer and guest mean the same thing? Perhaps they do in a dictionary; however, in the real world of hospitality, the operator who treats the visitor as a guest will likely be more successful than competitors treating the visitor as a customer.
At its most basic level, then, every travel/tourism/hospitality organization must focus on service. It is typically the sendee, not the product (for example, food, beverage, or sleeping room), that most influences the guests' perceptions about their experience with an organization in the travel/tourism/ hospitality industry.
The concept of quality is widely discussed in the world of travel/tourism/hospitality management today. Unfortunately, it is much easier to talk about quality than it is to effectively implement it and keep it going within a hospitality operation.
For our purposes, we can define quality as the consistent delivery of products and services according to expected standards. Note that service (the topic of this chapter) is specifically noted in our definition of quality. This is important: the guest renting a room at a hotel, purchasing a meal at a restaurant, or paying dues at a private club is buying and desires to receive an expected standard of service as part of the payment. Increasingly, guests are willing to pay more as they visit hospitality properties offering service that meets (or, one hopes, exceeds) their sendee expectations. The perceived level of sendee quality is an important factor in the experience that guests receive during the visit to the hospitality operation.
The hospitality industry's emphasis on quality is not just a fad that will soon go away. In fact, it requires a dramatic change in attitude about the need to focus on the guests and to use what is learned to reconsider how the operation should work. Entire books have been written about quality in the hospitality industry. There are six ingredients in a recipe that should be used to develop and implement a quality service system. These are:
1. Determine who are the guests being served.
2. Assess exactly what the guests desire.
3. Develop practical ways that systems can be modified or developed to consistently deliver what the guests want.
4. Train and empower service staff to please the guests.
5. Implement revised procedures.
6. Evaluate and modify service delivery systems as necessary.
There is a popular myth that noncommercial foodservice operations, such as in hospitals, nursing homes, and military bases, have a captive market. The myth continues by reasoning that it is, therefore, unnecessary to focus on the consumers' needs because they have few, if any, alternatives.
In fact, the focus on service is just as great in the noncommercial segment of the industry as it is in commercial hospitality operations. Consider, for example, how you feel if the wait in your school's cafeteria line is lengthy. How do you think hospital patients feel if a follow-up to their dietary concerns is not made by the facility's foodservice staff within a reasonable amount of time? What do you think is among the most frequent topic of conversation between nursing home residents and their families? Answer: the food! The answers to each of these questions cause us to focus directly on the foodservice operation and the level (quality) of service that it provides. Service is important in noncommercial foodservice operations!
Ingredient 1
Determine who are the guests being served. Some hospitality operations may serve a narrow range of guests. Consider, for example, a small rooms-only lodging property with a strategic location next to a busy interchange on an interstate highway. Most of its guests probably desire the same thing: a relatively inexpensive, safe, and clean sleeping room at a price representing a value to the travelers.
Other hospitality operations may serve a more diverse range of guests. Consider, for example, an upscale restaurant that, at the same time, is serving busy executives conducting business over dinner, a couple celebrating a wedding anniversary, a group of senior citizens enjoying their once monthly dining-out social event, and a young couple on a casual date. What exactly do these seemingly diverse groups of diners have in common? (While it is up to the restaurant manager to determine this, a possible answer is this: freshly produced food delivered by servers who are attentive to the diners' unique needs in a special environment at a price that represents a value for the products purchased and the services received.)
Let's consider two other examples of hospitality properties serving diverse guest groups. First, a downtown hotel may serve business guests during the week and other guests visiting the downtown area for shopping and social reasons during the weekend. Second, a busy restaurant in a tourist destination may serve numerous groups of guests depending on the convention and group meetings in the city at that specific time. It is important for hospitality managers to assure that they know as much as possible about all the guests being served.
Ingredient 2
Assess exactly what the guests desire. A questioning process can be used to determine guests' wants and needs. Questions such as "What did you like about your visit?" and "What would make your visit more enjoyable?" can help a manager to determine guests' needs. These and related questions can be posed to guests by managers as they "manage by walking around" and/or by a simple questionnaire (comment card) given to guests at the end of a meal or in the guest room. Focus groups (in educational and business and industry settings) and member surveys about a wide range of issues (in private clubs) suggest additional ways to collect information about guest preferences in specific types of hospitality operations.
Every hospitality manager has another way to collect information about the guests: ask employees. It is ironic but true that, many times line-level employees know more about the likes and dislikes of guests than do their supervisors or even the unit managers. These staff members frequently have greater amounts of guest contact than do any other employees in the hospitality organization. Consider, for example, the guest complaining about long lines at the time of check-in to a front-desk clerk or a food server receiving compliments (or complaints!) about food in the dining room. Want to know what the guests desire: ask employees who provide the products and services to them.
Ingredient 3
Develop practical ways that systems can be modified or developed to consistently deliver what the guests want. Two of the best ways to make procedures more guest friendly are to benchmark and to utilize cross-functional teams of employees. Benchmarking is the process of understanding exactly how one's own organization does something and, additionally, determining how it is done by the competition. If, for example, guests desire fast check-in (and most guests do!), it is important to determine what the property currently does and what other properties do to minimize guest check-in times.
Wise hospitality managers know the benefit of asking employees for advice about ways to improve a work method. Cross-functional teams are comprised of staff members from several departments who meet, brainstorm, and consider ways to improve work methods. (Consider a more traditional alternative of utilizing employees from the same department to address a problem: dining room service staff addressing a slow service problem may well conclude that the problem doesn’t rest with them; it is caused by the cook! Alternatively, if employees from the dining room, food production, and even housekeeping departments address the problem, creative ideas not limited to "how we have always done things" might be generated.)
Ingredient 4
Train and empower service staff to please the guests. New work methods require, at the least, changes in how work is done. New or additional tools or equipment may also be necessary. Staff members must be trained in revised work tasks, but they must also be empowered to make decisions about the unique needs, if any, of the guests being served. Empowerment is the act of granting authority to employees to make key decisions within the employees’ areas of responsibility. For example, service employees have a primary responsibility to please the guests. Empowered staff members are allowed to make decisions about how this is to be done as they interact with guests with differing wants, needs, and expectations. Before staff members can be empowered, they must be trained and provided with the tools and other resources needed to do their jobs.
Ingredient 5
Implement revised procedures. Implementation does not always need to be on an all or nothing basis. Perhaps, for example, employees working on specific floors in a hotel or within specific work stations in a dining room could utilize new work methods to test and further refine, if necessary, the more guest- friendly processes before they are "rolled out” to the entire property.
Ingredient 6
Evaluate and modify service delivery systems as necessary. Over time, guest preferences may (and are likely to) change. Technologies will evolve, as will, perhaps, new or improved work methods. These can affect what guests desire and/or how products or services can be most effectively delivered. In effect, then, the process of quality guest service is cyclical. It is driven by changes in (1) the guests being served and/or (2) guest preferences and/or (3) the work methods implemented to yield the desired quality of product or service outputs.
Today’s requirement for quality service has itself evolved from a past emphasis on commodities and products and is becoming incorporated into something that guests are increasingly expecting: an experience.
Discuss the following issues.
1. How would you define the concept «quality service system»?
2. What are the main components that should be used to develop and implement a quality service system?
3. What is the role of quality in the non-commercial services?
4. Why is it important for a hotel manager to collect information about the guests?
5. What technique of total quality management is used by hospitality managers today?
T E X T 2
Read the text and be ready to talk about its main issues.
MANAGERS MUST MANAGE
The title of this text may seem odd. Hospitality managers obviously must manage. However, what do they manage, and how do they do it?
Overview: the management process. There is no universally accepted definition of management; different authors, industry and business observers define the process differently. However, definitions have two factors in common: a process and a goal attaining effort. These form the basis of the definition we will use: management is the process of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, controlling, and evaluating human, financial, and physical resources for the purpose of achieving organizational objectives.
Unfortunately, all resources are in limited supply. It is doubtful that any manager in any business anywhere has all the necessary resources available in desired (ideal) quantities. The task of a manager, then, becomes one of using resources that are in limited supply to maximize (or, at least, to satisfy!) organizational objectives.
What types of goals do managers wish to attain? Among them are the following:
• Organizational goals related to long-term viability (survival). These goals are addressed by processes involving marketing (attracting guests), human resources management (facilitating the work of employees), and controlling costs (minimizing expenses without sacrificing quality).
• Human resources goals. For example, provision of professional development opportunities that allow staff members to learn and grow on the job and consideration of the manager's own professional goals.
• Societal goals. The hospitality organization must be a good citizen within the community. It wants to meet its legal obligations and should be active in community service initiatives.
The decision-making (problem-solving) process. How do hospitality managers best utilize resources since they are in limited supply? They must make decisions about their best use. Consider, for example, money. The manager uses a budget to estimate revenue and to consider how it should be spent on numerous types of expenses to yield a bottom line that meets financial requirements.
One of the most important tasks of a manager is to solve problems. (Some managers think more positively and call them opportunities or challenges). They must make decisions as they solve problems. In fact, then, the problem-solving process is really a decision-making process.
Let's look at the process more carefully.
Step 1: Define the Problem. A problem represents the difference between the way something is and the way it should be. For example, there is a problem when guests complain about unclean rooms or cold food. Sometimes (but not always) the problem is obvious. Declining volumes of revenue and/or increasing costs may be examples. Sometimes, however, it is much more difficult to identify the problem. Consider, for example, the view of some managers that an increasing number of job applicants are entering the work force with a lowered work ethic than their counterparts had in prior generations. (There are, probably, numerous societal, cultural, and other components of this issue that make problem identification difficult, if not impossible.) Some managers ask themselves, "What would the situation be like in the absence of the problem?" to help to define the problem.
Unfortunately, problems seldom occur on a one-at-a-time basis. Instead, managers are typically confronted with numerous problems at the same time.
Step 2: Generate Solution Alternatives. What can be done to address the problem? The manager should have answers, but so also may the employees. The use of cross-functional teams can help to identify potential solutions.
Step 3: Evaluate Solution Alternatives. Perceived ability to resolve the problem, costs, ease of implementation, and impact on other work processes are some of the factors that can be used to evaluate the solution alternatives generated in step 2. The organization and/or which solutions, after resolution, will be most helpful for the problem.
Step 4: Select the Best Solution Alternative. Often, the best solution involves utilizing aspects of several possible alternatives generated in step 2.
Step 5: Implement the Solution Alternative. Employee training, purchase of necessary equipment/tools, process revisions, and trial study are among the tactics that may be necessary' during the implementation phase of decision making and problem solving.
Step 6: Evaluate the Effectiveness of the Solution. If one has considered what the situation would be like if the problem no longer existed (step 1), this step becomes easier.
Close look at management activities. Hospitality managers must perform many basic activities as they go about their job. The extent to which they can successfully complete each activity affects their success. All basic management activities are important; none can be neglected. Let's review each of them
- Planning. Defining goals, establishing strategies to achieve them, and designing ways to get work done.
- Organizing. Developing and grouping work tasks.
- Coordinating. Arranging group efforts in an orderly manner.
- Staffing. Finding the right people for the job.
- Directing. Supervising the work of staff members.
- Controlling. Determining the extent to which the organization keeps on track of achieving goals.
- Evaluating. Assessing the extent to which plans are attained; evaluation can identify issues (problems) that should be considered by additional planning.
It would be very convenient if a hospitality manager could manage one activity at a time. In other words, ideally, a manager could spend time planning how money should be spent (developing a budget) and when employees should work (developing a schedule). Then the manager in our ideal world might spend time organizing procedures in a specific department and coordinating work efforts between departments. A manager's ideal work day could continue with specific times set aside for the other management activities (staffing, directing, controlling, and evaluating). In fact, however, the manager's work is much more complicated.
In the real world, a manager must do many things simultaneously. For example, he or she might (1) plan how all organizational resources can best be utilized, (2) organize and coordinate work activities and personnel responsibilities between all departments, and (3) make staffing decisions. At the same time, the manager may be supervising ongoing work while assessing the extent to which goals are met and evaluating further work improvements.
1. What types of goals do managers wish to attain?
2. What is the essence of the term ‘ management’?
3. What is one of the most important tasks of a manager?
4. What problems are managers typically confronted with ?
5. What are the main managerial functions?
T E X T 3
Read the text. Define the main idea of each paragraph.
What are the key sentence(s) of each paragraph?
SERVICE AND MOMENTS OF TRUTH
Moments of truth are opportunities that guests have to form an impression about a hospitality organization. While a moment of truth can involve an employee (for example, excellent or rude service), there does not need to be human interaction. (Consider, for example, negative impressions formed when guests walk through a garbage-cluttered parking lot that is downwind from a foul-smelling garbage dumpster or the positive first impression created by the large vase of fresh, beautiful flowers on top of the receptionist's stand. Consider also the "wow" factor created when one of these fresh flower stems is given to lady guests as they are seated!)
Hospitality managers plan many aspects of a guest experience at their properties. For example, procedures are probably in place in a restaurant for guests to be seated, for orders to be taken, for food to be served, and for guest charges to be paid (among numerous others). Similarly, hotel managers, through an organized planning process (or by default!) have a system in place for guest registration, luggage transport to the room, guest security and safety while on-site, guest check-out, and other guest and property interactions. However, guests in these managers' restaurants and hotels will encounter (sometimes by chance alone) other moments of truth that can be favorable or unfavorable and, in the process, influence the guest's total perception of the visit.
Word-of-mouth advertising occurs when previous guests tell other persons about their experiences during a visit to the hospitality operation. Unfortunately, guests with negative impressions after a property visit are likely to tell more persons about their problems than their counterparts who have just enjoyed a pleasing visit. Unfortunately as well, each time negative experiences are repeated, the extent of the problem is likely to be increased or exaggerated.
You can see, then, that our simple definition of quality at the beginning of this chapter (the consistent delivery of products and services according to expected standards) is, in fact, vers7 difficult to attain. For example, if a hospitality operation serves 300 guests each day for several or more years, some guest-related problems will occur, regardless of the extent to which a service attitude exists and guest-friendly processes are in place. However, effective plans should be in place to minimize the number of service failures.
After viewing a video emphasizing quality dining service, one dining room manager was heard saying to another, "I'd give anything to have service staff like those shown in the video." What the dining room manager had seen was a series of situations in which a trained dining room server (1) provided a hospitable greeting, (2) practiced the "art and science" of suggestive selling, (3) utilized product knowledge, (4) answered all guest questions about "what's on the menu," (5) helped other servers when they became especially busy during the work shift, and (6) met or exceeded the guests' service expectations.
Why couldn't (didn't) that dining room manager employ servers who consistently did these relatively simple and commonsense things? What kind of service was the manager's staff providing to guests if they did not do what was emphasized in the training video? Unfortunately, many persons considering a recent experience in a foodservice operation might also ask, "What was wrong with the staff? What was wrong with their supervisor for allowing these things to happen? If I can realize the negative impact it has on their business, why can't the supervisor?"
The quality of service provided to guests in any type of hospitality operation is affected most by the staff members providing the service and by the processes that the employees use to provide the service. If this is true and the employee is a key element in sendee delivery, what role, then, does the manager play?
It has been said that the vast majority of all problems in a hospitality operation are caused by the manager! This observation runs contrary to the traditional manager who thinks, "If only I could find good employees, my operating problems would be solved." In fact, it is the manager who effectively (or ineffectively) recruits, orients, trains, motivates, and empowers staff members to serve the guests. It is the manager who does (or does not) serve as a role model to emphasize the importance of guest service in the hospitality organization. Managers cannot delegate the accountability that they receive from their own bosses to subordinates. Instead, managers are (and should be) held responsible for the extent to which the hospitality operation is successful. As emphasized throughout this chapter, service is an essential ingredient in the success of any hospitality organization. What can managers do to best assure that employees know and consistently practice effective guest-service skills? Let's briefly discuss them:
Maintain a vision of service priority. Managers must understand the critical importance of service. They must recognize that what they do (and don't do) and what they say (and don't say) are the biggest factors in determining the extent to which service is emphasized in their operation.
Recruit and select service-minded staff. The hospitality operation should strive to be an employer of choice within the community; its turnover rate should be relatively low, and experienced staff members should understand and consistently apply quality service principles. However, applicants will still need to be recruited and selected. They should effectively answer open-ended questions such as "What would you do if a guest pushed his way to the front of the check-in line and demanded to be registered immediately?" or "What would you do if a guest indicates the desire for food to be served immediately and there is a backup of several large food orders in the kitchen?"
Provide effective orientation and training. The manager's emphasis on quality guest service continues at the time of new-employee orientation. Staff members should be introduced to the property's mission statement, which should emphasize the critical importance of guest service. They must be trained in guest-friendly procedures. (There should be adequate time for new employees to gain the required knowledge and skills before they have significant guest contact.)
Supervise with a sendee emphasis. Employees, like all other people, will normally do what they are rewarded to do. If service is important, hospitality managers should emphasize this by thanking staff members when exceptional guest service is rendered, discussing service-related problems, and noting service factors during times of performance appraisal. Employee compensation decisions should be based, in part, on the consistency of quality service delivery.
Empower staff with decision-making authority for service. The importance of employee empowerment was noted earlier in this unit. Hospitality managers should facilitate, not direct, the delivery of service. Staff members who are in contact with guests require the ability to make quick decisions that focus on guest needs as they arise.
Emphasize continuous quality improvement (CQI). Guests and the hospitality operations that serve them constantly change. Hospitality operations, then, either become better or worse; they never stay the same. Today's emphasis on "better, faster, cheaper" is important. However, the first two factors just noted (better and faster) should be developed with the guests' needs in mind. The third factor (cheaper) is also a meaningful goal as long as it involves taking error out of the products and services, rather than reducing value from the guests' point of view.
Answer the following questions.
1. What does the term ‘moment of truth’ mean?
2. What is the role of word-of-mouth advertising in the tourism industry? In the hospitality industry?
3. What can managers do to best assure that employees know and consistently practice effective guest-service skills?
4. What tactics can managers use working with their employees?
T E X T 4
Read the text and be ready to discuss, what makes a good hospitality manager.
WHAT MAKES SERVICE SPECIAL?
Hospitality employees provide special service to their guests when they:
1. Acknowledge guests and thank them for visiting
2. Smile
3. Maintain eye contact
4. Reflect a genuine interest in providing quality service
5. Consider every guest to be unique
6. Create a warm environment of hospitality
7. Strive for excellence in guest service skills
8. Are courteous, polite, and attentive
9. Determine what guests really want and need and then provide the products and services that address these wants and needs
10. Pay more attention to guests than to machines and co-workers
11. Invite guests to return
Guest Service Staff Are Professionals
Professionals are persons working in an occupation requiring extensive knowledge and skills. One often thinks about occupations such as medicine, law, accounting, and teaching to satisfy this definition. Persons in these occupations have formal education in a specialized body of knowledge and membership in their profession is controlled by, for example, licensing or registration.
Hospitality service personnel should be thought of as professionals in their own vocation because specialized knowledge and skills are required to be effective. Also, certification by professional associations, including the American Hotel and Lodging Association () and the National Restaurant Association (), is available.
Ritz-Carlton: A Case Study in Quality Service
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C., is widely known for its emphasis on quality. It has won the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. This award granted to relatively few U.S. businesses that demonstrate successful quality-related strategies relating to leadership, information and analysis, strategic planning, human resource development and management, process management, business results, and customer focus and satisfaction.
The Ritz-Carlton's Employee Promise, Credo, and Service Values establish a foundation for quality excellence that is an important part of the company's corporate culture.
While very few organizations receive the Malcolm-Baldrige Award, the philosophies emphasized in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company Standards are useful benchmarking concepts for all service organizations, including those within the hospitality industry.
Benchmark Against the Best: Ritz-Carlton Hotels
The Employee Promise:
At the Ritz Carlton, our Ladies and Gentlemen are the most important resource in our service commitment to our guests.
By applying the principles of trust, honesty, respect, integrity, and commitment, we nurture and maximize talent to the benefit of each individual and the company.
The Ritz-Carlton fosters a work environment where diversity is valued, quality of life is enhanced, individual aspirations are fulfilled, and The Ritz-Carlton Mystique is strengthened.
The Ritz-Carlton Credo :
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel is a place where the genuine care and comfort of our guests is our highest mission.
We pledge to provide the finest personal service and facilities for our guests who will always enjoy a warm, relaxed yet refined ambiance.
The Ritz-Carlton experience enlivens the senses, instills well-being, and fulfills even the unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests.
Service Values: I Am Proud to be Ritz-Carlton.
1. I build strong relationships and create Ritz-Carlton guests for life.
2. I am always responsive to the expressed and unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests.
3. I am empowered to create unique, memorable, and personal experiences for our guests.
4. I understand my role in achieving the Key Success Factors and creating The Ritz-Carlton Mystique.
5. I continuously seek opportunities to innovate and improve The Ritz-Carlton experience.
6. I own and immediately resolve guest problems.
7. I create a work environment of teamwork and lateral service so that the needs of our guests and each other are met.
8. I have the opportunity to continuously learn and grow.
9. I am involved in the planning of the work that affects me.
10. I am proud of my professional appearance, language, and behavior.
11. I protect the privacy and security of our guests, my fellow employees, and the company's confidential information and assets.
12. I am responsible for uncompromising levels of cleanliness and creating a safe and accident-free environment.
T E X T 5
Read the text. Define the main idea of each paragraph.
What are the key sentence(s) of each paragraph?
CHALLENGES
The consumers' interest in service is likely to increase in the future and, as today, organizations that meet (or exceed) these guest service expectations have a competitive edge over their counterparts who do not. While the recipe for quality service discussed in this chapter is easy to read and understand, it is much more difficult to implement. Managers cannot, for example, simply determine standards, develop required procedures that address them, and train staff members to follow them.
Several factors that affect the ability of the organization to maintain its quality service standards include the following:
Service philosophy of top-level managers. Contrast the manager who is a role model for effective sendee by constantly talking about it and helping to deliver it with another manager whose leadership style is "do what I say, not what I do."
Service attitude of staff members. As suggested, line-level employees are more likely to practice the service component of their jobs when their managers do so.
Employee selection and training. Staff members who have a genuine interest in providing sendee and who are trained to do so will more likely be successful than others who consider their employment to be "just a job."
Changing guest preferences. Managers must keep current with their guests' expectations about service and the best way to provide it.
Managers must evaluate technology and consider guest service imp lions, along with numerous other sendee-related considerations. The need for "high tech" with "high touch" is important, because sendee in :he travel/tourism and hospitality industry is delivered by people, not by machines.
Answer the questions.
1. What are the main risks and challenges connected with the quality service?
2. What are the main factors that affect the ability of the organization to maintain its quality service standards?
3. What should a good manager do to face all the challenges?
Discussion/Writing/Translation
А. Discuss the following questions.
1. Explain the concept of quality and review its impact on the level of service provided by a travel/tourism/hospitality operation.
2. Discuss the six ingredients in a recipe to develop a quality service system.
3. Describe the concept of moments of truth in guest service.
4. Recognize the important role of employees in consistently delivering quality service.
5. Defend the concept that guest service staff are professionals.
6. Review the components of the quality service philosophy utilized by the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company.
B. Write a short essay on one of the following issues:
1. The importance of quality service in the hospitality industry
2. What is the secret of quality service?
3. What makes services special?
C. Translate the following text into English.
Политика организации в области качества туристских услуг должна быть направлена на удовлетворение требований потребителя; обеспечение выполнения профессиональных туристских стандартов и соблюдение этики; непрерывное повышение качества туристской услуги; учет требований общества и защиты окружающей среды; эффективность предоставления туристской услуги
Любое предприятие индустрии гостеприимства должно создать систему внутренней проверки качества исполнения туристских услуг, назначить специально обученных сотрудников и обеспечить их необходимыми средствами контроля (проверки). Проверка включает контроль, оценку и регулирование процессов исполнения туристских услуг при проектировании (моделировании), производстве и обслуживании потребителя.
Руководству организации следует периодически анализировать систему качества, разработанную и внедренную в фирме, чтобы убедиться, что она удовлетворяет установленным требованиям и эффективна.
Так как услуга индустрии гостеприимства является комплексом услуг различного содержания и назначения, оценка ее качества должна быть комплексной, включающей в себя показатели качества каждой отдельной услуги, которые мы называем единичными показателями качества. В свою очередь, каждая из этих услуг оценивается комплексным показателем качества, содержащим единичные показатели составных частей данной услуги.
Перечень услуг и показателей их качества не является закрытым, каждое предприятие индустрии гостеприимства может его сократить или дополнить с учетом специфики своей деятельности.
U N I T IV
SPECIAL EVENTS MANAGEMEN
Starting up
Discuss these questions:
1. What does the term special events management mean?
2. What do you know about the history of special events?
3. What trends in the special events industry can you define?
4. How far in advance of a large, world-class event such as the International Olympics does planning for its foodservices begin?
5. What are some logistics about the volume of foodservices that are offered?
6. What are the most critical aspects of planning the event?
7. How important is teamwork in the planning process, and what function does each team member assume?
Vocabulary
Key terms public relations special event cause-related event event planning hardware rental and construction personnel venue manager culinary housing dining outlets fund raising transportation requirements corporate sponsorship risk management concern ticketing service caricature artists ballon artists
Match the words from the two columns to make up word combinations:
1. Venue a) events
2. Multidisciplinary b) assembly
3. Ticketing c) companies
4. Risk d) service
5. linen e) artists
6. retail operations f) manager
7. media g)management
8. balloon h) profession
9. public i) rental
Reading
T E X T 1
Read the text and be ready to describe the special events management and different types of events.
SPECIAL EVENTS MANAGEMENT
Special events management is an exciting and growing industry. It attracts persons who possess creative talents and organizational skills. Special events professionals enjoy a work environment in which no two days are the same. They create and customize events that provide their clients with entertaining, unique, and memorable experiences. Events also have the ability to reflect and mold our society. Hallmark events (those that are sustainable and revivable), such as the International Olympics, the World Cup, and, most recently, the 9/11 remembrance ceremonies, are important milestones in shaping the culture of the United States and the world.
Special events management is the profession that involves public assembly for reasons of celebration, entertainment, and education (among other purposes). Special events management includes several activities: event research, design, planning, coordination, and evaluation.
Special events management is a multidisciplinary profession. The elements of most events are basically the same: entertainment, decorations, lighting, sound, special effects, catering, and often transportation. Employment in special events management transcends many hospitality positions in hotels, food and beverage, tourism, and the meetings and conventions industries.
Special Events: A Historical Review
As long as there have been groups of people, special events have celebrated human triumphs and milestones. Events celebrate past, present, and future lives and all the accomplishments (wonderful, terrible, and bittersweet) that accent life's journey. The special events management profession originated within the discipline of public relations when specialists became necessary to manage the activities (special events) that creative organizations use to obtain publicity and to build corporate images.
The term special event represents an extraordinary moment in our lives. Robert Jani (one of Walt Disney's imagineers) is credited with first using the term in 1955. He proposed the creation of a nightly parade in Disneyland (the
Event Markets
Many event planners classify events by markets. The most commonly considered are noted in Exhibit 30.1. Event markets include those sponsored by associations, corporations, and casino hotels. Other events are cause related. Retail and sporting events, fairs, festivals, parades, and social and tourism events are also part of the event market, and we will look at each in this section. Corporations typically spend the most money on events, but the social market is the largest because it encompasses life-cycle events such as birthdays, bar or bat mitzvahs, weddings, anniversaries, and funerals.
Association Events
Associations sponsor innumerable events of all types, including award presentations, political rallies, community service, installation of officers and leaders, training programs, conventions, exhibitions, and seminars.
Corporate Events
Corporate events are sponsored to achieve specific goals, including celebratory events such as product introductions, customer appreciation, grand openings, and incentive programs.
Casino and Hotel Events
Special events are a significant part of a casinos marketing activities today. In addition to corporate events that occur at casinos, such as grand openings and numerous types of celebrations, special events attract and reward casino players. For example, boxing matches and rock concerts attract the highest level of VIP players, and high-roller parties are often utilized as a customer- appreciation tool.
Special Events Occur Every Day In Casinos
Slot clubs and tournaments increase casino revenue during slow periods, build customer loyalty, and develop a customer database. Slot tournaments are a perfect example of how the casino uses special events as a marketing tool. Players are encouraged to join slot clubs and are given a membership card. When they do so, this card tracks each member's play (number of hours and dollars spent playing the slots). It also has a built- in reward system so that customers can earn points toward meals, shows, and hotel rooms and receive the appropriate level of VIP treatment.
Casino club members are often invited to participate in monthly slot tournaments that are highly themed and feature a high-ticket prize at the tournament's end. These events have become highly competitive between casino properties and rely on the next creative theme to attract new and retain existing players in the tournaments. An awards banquet, including themed entertainment, food, and beverages, frequently concludes these special events.
Cause-Related Events
Many not-for-profit organizations raise a huge portion of their annual budgets from fund-raising events. As inducements to participate, part of the fees paid by those attending may be tax deductible as a charitable contribution.
Retail Operations Events
The main purpose of retail event promotions is to introduce and sell merchandise. During the 1960s and 1970s, retailers could attract thousands of consumers to their stores with one-day events that included the appearance of soap opera stars and athletes. Today, retailers design long-range promotional events using an integrated approach to attract consumers on a steady basis. Consider the Sony Metreon Complex in San Francisco. Shoppers can enjoy the maximum of entertainment and events with 15 movie screens, an IMAX theater, eight restaurants, and numerous stores and attractions that would rival many amusement parks.
Sporting Events
Sporting events bring lots of visitors and therefore lots of money into a community. A few of the top sporting events each year are the National Collegiate Athletics Associations (NCAA) Men's Final Four Basketball Tournament, Junior Olympic Games, and the ESPN Summer X Games. Sporting events are a perfect platform for corporate sponsorship. No other single event in America is more attractive to corporate America than the annual Super Bowl football game. In J999 Las Vegas attracted 250,000 visitors to the Super Bowl who spent millions of dollars while visiting the area.
Fairs, Festivals, and Parades
These events provide many opportunities to bring communities together to celebrate various cultures and interests through performances, arts, crafts and socializing, while, at the same time, boosting tourism dollars. For example, the Kentucky Derby Festival (horse race) attracts 1.5 million visitors to Louisville, and the Rose Bowl parade (prior to the annual football game) attracts 1 million visitors for that one-day event in Pasadena (Los Angeles). Whether people attend a Pumpkin Festival in Circleville, Ohio, or the Cannes Film Festival in France, chances are they will come away exhausted, entertained, and gastronomically satisfied.
Social Events
The social (life-cycle) market continues to grow as health conditions improve and people live longer. Once, celebrating a fiftieth wedding anniversary was rare; today it is almost commonplace. Celebratory events that recognize the passage of time are usually ritualistic in nature.
It's Only Money!
Life-cycle events are important to clients. Today, some weddings are upscale and themed events that last for days. In 2001, an award-winning wedding was produced at a Las Vegas casino resort property. It utilized 32 florists and a 4,000 work-hour setup crew to carefully attend to the bridal couples every wish at a cost that exceeded $1 million!
Tourism Events
Communities that do not have the facilities to offer large events can still utilize tourism events to attract visitors. Redevelopment projects are reviving the downtown areas of many U.S. cities. With this redevelopment comes the opportunity for creating tourism events. As an example, consider Cleveland, Ohio, which has been named one of North Americas 10 most improved cities. Cleveland's entertainment district, called the Flats, lines the Cuyahoga River and has transformed old industrial sites into party meccas. In 1994, the city unveiled its $450 million Gateway Sports Complex, which includes both Jacobs Field (home of the Cleveland Indians baseball team) and Gund Arena (home of the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team). The Cleveland Browns' new football stadium and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum have helped Cleveland earn a spot on Travel & Leisure's top 10 vacation destinations.
Here are two additional examples. Fort Worth, Texas, transformed its downtown stores into Sundance Square with entertainment attractions, modern shopping areas, restaurants, and museums. Chattanooga, Tennessee, centered its downtown redevelopment around the $45 million Tennessee Aquarium. New hotels, museums, modern shopping, theaters, and other attractions provide the setting for numerous tourism events.
1. Define the term ‘special events management’.
2. Provide a brief history of special events.
3. Describe the type of markets in which special events are conducted.
4. What types of special events are considered to be the most popular?
T E X T 2
Read the text and be ready to name the main trends in the special events management.
TRENDS IN THE SPECIAL EVENTS INDUSTRY
One of the biggest trends in the event industry today is the merging of corporate and public events. This is accomplished through many forms of sponsorship. Money, goods, and/or services are provided by an organization in exchange for public relations, advertising, and/or charitable tax benefits. In times when there is dwindling public funding for the arts, for example, corporate sponsorship of museums is rising rapidly. In addition to the arts, corporate sponsorship plays an increasingly important role in numerous public events, including festivals and holiday celebrations.
The arrangement between Saber of America and Philadelphia's Franklin Institute Science Museum illustrates the new forms of sponsorhip. When the museum's traveling science show rolls into schools, it travels in a fleet of four Saber Legacy station wagons donated by the auto maker. A second example: The Houston
Livestock Show and Rodeo has 41 sponsors. Each pays between $60,000 and $1 million to sponsor an event, ranging from a milking parlor to the playing of the national anthem.
Another trend in the special events industry is a renewed interest in professionalism. The nations current economic uncertainty rapid technological advances, and increased competition, among other factors, have prompted event professionals to differentiate themselves by professional credentials and practices. Certification designations are more important today than they have even been in the special events industry. In many cases, they distinguish a certified event professional as being the "best of the best!"
Since the events of September 11, 2001, it is increasingly common to produce events perceived to be more meaningful, as opposed to events that are just celebratory or that can be seen as financially wasteful. This trend toward cause-related events, rather than those with incentive and reward purposes, will likely remain popular.
As is true in other segments of the hospitality industry, risk management concerns are a hot topic at industry-related education and professional development conferences. In the wake of the horrific fire that killed 99 club goers and injured nearly 200 more in West Warwick, Rhode Island, in 2003.
1. Explain recent trends in the special events industry.
2. Do you believe the special events management exists in our country?
3. What can you tell about risk management concerns?
T E X T 3
Read the text. Define the main idea of each paragraph. What are the key sentence(s) of each paragraph?
A CLOSE LOOK AT EVENT PLANNING
The work of an event planner is in many ways similar to that of a meeting planner. There are certain steps in planning a special event. When reviewing this figure, note that the events purpose and budget are typically considered before its theme and the guest list. The theme, then, may drive the events location and its planning schedule. Details, including transportation requirements (to move guests to and from and within the event's location) and numerous general and specific details relating to the conduct of the event at a specific site, are required. Postevent evaluation is a must, especially if events are repeated. Then all parties will learn about planning procedures that should be continued (because they work!) or that may need modification (because they were ineffective!).
The phrase "attention to details" is an appropriate way to describe the work of special event planners. This is especially important as one considers that planners frequently are working on several special events at the same time.
The International Special Events Society (ISES) categorizes event disciplines. This classification suggests specialized positions within the industry.
|Position |Examples of Position Titles and Responsibilities |
|Events planners (coordinators) |Persons in this position serve as event planner. coordinator, meeting planner, wedding consultant,|
| |fund raiser, exposition service manager, and other entities. |
|Special events managers |This individual should have a minimum of three years experience in the special events industry as |
| |an event coordinator, designer, production manager, or technical director. |
|Special events producers |Individual special events producers have a minimum of five years experience in the industry. They |
| |have produced or had a major role in producing at least 10 events. |
|Design, decor, or graphic arts |Floral designers and floral and plant suppliers; set, prop, and display designers; lighting |
|specialists |designers; balloon artists; graphic and advertising artists; flags and banners producers; |
| |suppliers of decorative materials, invitations, and calligraphy; and persons with similar |
| |responsibilities. |
|Technical service and products |Audiovisual services; sound and staging; lighting; photography and video; computers and software; |
|specialists |event staffing and security; special effects; fireworks and pyrotechnics; generator rental; other |
| |positions. |
|Hardware rental and construction|Equipment rental; party hire; tenting; staging; set and props construction; stadium and seating; |
|personnel |temporary structures; catering equipment; apparel (formal and costumes); linen rental; restroom; |
| |trailers and other positions. |
|Entertainers |Theme or amusement parks; booking agencies; musicians; vocalists, disk jockeys, magicians, |
| |sporting event and concert promoters or managers; specialty acts; performing artists; casino and |
| |carnival entertainment and equipment; amusement and interactive games; virtual reality; ticketing |
| |services; professional speakers; novelties and caricature artists and other entities that provide |
| |or produce entertainment. |
|Food service and product |Catering (on- and/or off-site); ice sculptures; bakery and wedding cakes; food staffing and other |
|personnel |positions. |
|Venue (location) managers |Hotel and specialty venues; bleachers, sky-boxes and other venues. |
|Travel and transportation |Destination management services; incentive travel companies; valet parking services; ground |
|personnel |operators; ground transportation (bus, van, and limousine) services; tours, charters, and other |
| |positions. |
|Event public relations and |Advertising agencies; media companies; public relations firms; marketing companies; awards and |
|marketing specialists |promotional products companies; accounting and financial services; speakers' bureau; publications |
| |and media; insurance; professional support services and other positions. |
1. Review a flow chart of the activities required to plan a special event.
2. Review some major responsibilities that are part of positions within the special events industry.
3. Provide some examples of position titles and responsibilities
T E X T 4
Read the text and be ready to discuss the main challenges that the special events management faces.
CHALLENGES
As is true with all segments of the hospitality industry, the special events management is confronted by several challenges.
Risk Management Concerns
Risk management remains a challenge even though the awareness importance has already been raised throughout the industry. Surprisingly, this topic has not received serious attention until recently, because event managers lend to be very creative by nature. Educational conferences, professional literature and other venues for advancing the profession have focused more on the new and different creative aspects of event planning, rather than on the nuts and bolts of basic planning principles. After September II, 2001, however, this all changed.
There also is the human tendency to want to shift blame to someone else. Consider, for example, the tragic fire in Rhode Island referenced previously. Accusations were made about the band whose pyrotechnics ignited the blaze, the owners of the establishment, the company that supplied the foam marshal! Who gave the club a seal of approval, the town of West Warwick, and the state of Rhode Island. In the future, event planners will more consistently and adequately address risk management concerns to assure that they are doing their part to provide a safe environment for event guests.
Raising the Level of Professionalism
Historically, the special events industry has comprised small entrepreneurial businesses who learned the business from experience, rather than through formal education and professional development. Experience is absolutely critical to the success of an event planner; however, so is more formalized training. The primary professional association for the International Special Events Society (ISES) has developed an effective certification program that is driven by excellent professional development programs in increasingly successful efforts to raise the standard of excellence in the industry.
Marketing Issues
The goals and objectives for many events have shifted to cause-related events. This poses marketing challenges for event companies who need to reinvent themselves. Also, the events industry rises and falls in connection with the economy. Consider, for example, the September 11, 2001, tragedy. Special events companies lost all or most of the business on their books after that event, and it was more than a year before planning for new events began.
1. Explain the challenges the special events management is confronted by nowadays.
2. ‘Experience is absolutely critical to the success of an event planner’. Do you share this opinion?
3. Does the events industry depend on the economic state of a country? Why?
T E X T 5
Read the text. Define the main idea of each paragraph.
What are the key sentence(s) of each paragraph?
PROFILE OF A SPECIAL EVENTS COMPANY
Most businesses providing special events services are independently owned and provide opportunities for creative persons to identify and serve the special events needs of selected markets. Here's an example.
VP Events, Inc., is a full-service event, design, and production company. The firm was founded in 1994 as Vintage Productions, specializing in vintage weddings and social events. Since that time, the company has evolved into an award-winning design and production firm specializing in a broad range of entertainment, corporate, and social events. Clients look to VP Events, Inc., for something different and unique that allows them to emphasize their individual expressions. While the firm has enjoyed notoriety for its specialty, unique wedding design and other off-premise events, the true focus is on elegance, style, and individuality.
President and owner Mary N. Litzsinger, CSEP. has a bachelor's degree in marketing. She received the designation CSEP (Certified Special Events Professional) in 2001 from the International Special Events Society. She has served on the faculty of the UCLA Extension Program, where she encouraged Mary Litzsinger students to join the special events planning industry. For the past 15 years, she has developed and produced events, fund-raising opportunities, public relations, and corporate branding programs for local, regional, and national organizations.
Karey Williams graduated from the University of Southern California and serves as event and marketing manager. She has been a full-time event and marketing manager for over four years. Her first major wedding received high reviews and earned a featured spot in a national publication. She brings a background in the cosmetics and fashion industry to the firm. Karey uses her knowledge and experience to help clients with their specific needs related to dress design and hair and makeup consultations. In addition to working with social clients of VP Events, Inc., Karey develops opportunities for the firm in corporate, sports, and fund-raising event.
Prepare a short report about famous event and marketing manager of our country.
T E X T 6
Read the text and be ready to discuss the most critical aspects in planning the event.
FEEDBACK FROM THE REAL WORLD
Our real-world advice comes from Marc Bruno, Regional Vice-President, ARAMARK Business Services, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
How far in advance of a large, world- class event such as the International Olympics does planning for its foodservices begin?
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is responsible for overseeing the Olympic process and selecting the host cities for each Summer and Winter Olympics, which are held every four years. Approximately 10 to 12 years prior to each Olympic Games, cities from around the world begin to compete for the votes of the various IOC delegate members to become the host city. Only one city per country can be selected (for example, the United States Olympic Committee selected New York City as the city to compete for the U.S. location for the 2012 Summer Olympics). Seven years prior to the Games, the voting to determine the host city occurs and election results are announced. The successful hosts of the Summer and Winter Games now known are Summer, 2008, Beijing; and Winter 2010, Vancouver.
Once the city is announced, a local Organizing Committee is formed and begins planning for hosting the Olympics. It focuses on five major areas:
1. Athletic competition
2. Transportation
3. Security
4. Foodservices
5. Housing
Typically, the local organizing committee (for example, the Athens Olympic Committee was called ATHOC) will outsource the foodservices to one or more companies. The three primary areas are these:
1. The Olympic Village, where the athletes, coaches, officials, and staff reside for approximately 30 days
2. The venues (competition sites)
3. Corporate hospitality
ARAMARK has been involved in previous Olympic Games in some or all of these three areas and is usually the largest provider of food- services. For example. ARAMARK has served as the foodservices manager for 13 games in which it managed the foodservice needs for the Olympic Village.
Planning for each Olympic Games takes approximately 2 years, usually with a core group of 5 to 10 people. As the Games approach, the group expands to hundreds of managers and thousands of employees.
When we are involved with Olympics in countries outside North America, we partner with a local company that brings extensive knowledge of the local customs, service levels, purchasing and distribution systems, and human resource contacts.
What were some logistics about the volume of foodservices offered?
As a case study, let’s consider the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. The 2004 Olympic Village in Athens was the largest Olympic Village in history. It hosted 23,800 athletes, coaches, officials, and Games personnel. The Parolympic Village hosted 12,250 additional persons. The ARAMARK/Daskalantonakis Group serviced the dining and catering needs for both villages 24 hours a day for approximately 60 days during the summer of 2004. Over 2 million meals were served to Olympic athletes, coaches, and officials during this time. In addition, we managed the construction of temporary dining and kitchen facilities to service these dining outlets. The athletes' main village was the world’s largest temporary dining facility ever, housing over 6,000 seats and capable of serving over 80,000 meals a day. In addition, we operated a staff dining and retail casual dining facility capable of feeding an additional 20,000 meals per day. We utilized approximately 2,500 employees and purchased well over $10 million in food for the month-long event.
The most critical aspects in planning the event were as follows:
Human resources. Recruiting, hiring, accrediting, training, and servicing temporary employees and chefs for the approximate 30-day period.
Culinary. Planning a menu for over 15,000 athletes from around the world, each with their own preferences and food needs during training and competition. The menu is huge, and we brought in chefs from around the world to assist in the production of such mammoth quantities and varieties of food items.
Technology. Assuring that all the proper systems were working and in place and that there was a backup plan in case it failed for some reason is critical. Technology can make the planning process much easier if it works well.
Finance. Making sure that budgets and expenditures were correct and that tracking of all costs was complete.
Construction. Designing and operating in temporary facilities that need to be precisely planned and constructed without delays.
Operations. There were many moving parts when operations got underway, and systems, processes, and people needed to be in harmony or major chaos could have occurred.
Food safety. Serving so many meals and utilizing products from around the globe was a challenge. We ensured that the food was handled and prepared safely from the farm to the plate and along every step of the way.
Communication. Proper communications among all departments and shifts and to the customers was critical. This is especially true when one considers that we dealt with athletes from 197 different nations, with their different languages.
Teamwork was of the utmost importance. It was critical that all departments and functions be in harmony with each other before and during planning and execution. Everyone's individual responsibilities were very important, but they became much greater when combined with the interdependence of the other necessary functions during the actual operations. The core team focused on many issues initially, and then we separated the issues and let each team focus solely on its area. The project was so incredibly huge (it was like having a Super Bowl going on 24 hours a day for 30 days straight!) that it helped to have individuals oversee the following departments: Operations, Culinary, Human resources, Recruiting, Training, Accommodations and Transportation,etc.
1. What are the most critical aspects in planning the event?
2. Which one of these aspects do you consider to be the most important?
3. What are three things that you learned in this chapter that will benefit you if you become a venue manager?
Discussion/ Writing/ Translation
A. Discuss these questions:
1. How does the work of a special events planner (coordinator) or manager differ from that of a meeting planner? How is it similar?
2. How might nonprofit corporations and government organizations seek corporate sponsorships for, respectively, member or public events?
3. What types of features would attract you to a special event in another community?
4. If you were responsible for marketing the event in that community, what tactics might you utilize?
5. What are three things that you learned in this chapter that will benefit you if you become a venue manager?
6. Summarize the information of the texts to be ready to speak on the topic ‘The Hospitality Industry’. The first step to be done is to write the plan of your presentation.
7. Choose any question ( problem, topic) relating to the hospitality industry and make a 7-10 minute presentation in class. Refer to different additional sources to make your report instructive, interesting and informative.
B. Write a short essay on one of the following issues:
1. Advantages and disadvantages of event manager’s job.
2. Challenges of special event management.
3. How to plan an event successfully?
C. Translate the following text into English.
Сами или агентство? С этим вопросом, так или иначе, сталкивается любой начинающий бренд-менеджер или директор по маркетингу. Люди более опытные предпочитают доверять дело профессионалам. Причина ясна: специализированное коммуникационное агентство избавит от многих хлопот, взяв на себя весь груз организационных забот.
Действуя «по науке», специалисты сначала разработают общую концепцию, то есть, постаравшись как можно точнее ответить на традиционные вопросы «для кого мы это делаем?», «для чего мы это делаем?» и «по поводу чего мы это делаем?» и призвав на помощь весь творческий потенциал, предложат яркую идею, максимально выражающую суть и индивидуальность будущего события.
Затем последуют хлопоты по подбору необходимого помещения и оборудования (вопрос настолько же творческий, настолько и коммерческий). Очень ответственный и важный момент — превращение идеи в готовый сценарий. Специалисты агентства найдут время и на организацию переговоров с подрядчиками, и на поиск профессиональных ведущих и звукорежиссеров, и на десятки других важнейших мелочей, которые так просто упустить из виду в предпраздничной суматохе.
Что касается связей с общественностью, то и здесь помощь агентства может оказаться гораздо эффективнее. Коммуникационные агентства, имеющие давние и прочные контакты со СМИ, добьются общественного резонанса быстрее. Для достижения целей профессионалы пользуются всеми разнообразными способами распространения информации: это и direct-mail, и наружная реклама, и информирование целевой аудитории через специализированные источники (отраслевые издания).
Так что сегодня даже не очень крупные отечественные компании, сталкиваясь с необходимостью устроить праздник с рекламными или другими целями, предпочитают обращаться к профессионалам.
SUPPLEMENTARY READING
T E X T 1
Read the text and be ready to discuss the history of the hospitality industry.
modern concept of hospitality
Modern concept of hospitality began to develop in the nineteenth century, which saw more innovations in hospitality than in all previous history. The famed Cesar Ritz, whose name has entered the vocabulary as a synonym for luxury, made restaurant dining at London's Savoy almost a must for the aristocracy of both sexes. He revolutionized hotel restaurants by offering a list (carte in French) of suggestions available from the kitchen. This was the beginning of the a la carte menu. The Americans used their special brand of ingenuity to create something for everyone. In 1848, a hierarchy of eateries existed in New York City. At the bottom was Sweeney's "sixpenny eating house" on Ann Street, whose owner, Daniel Sweeney, achieved questionable fame as the father of the greasy spoon. Sweeney's less-than-appetizing fare was literally thrown down to his hungry customers, who cared little for the social amenities of dining. At the top of the list was the famous Delmonico's. This restaurant was known as the most expensive in the country.
In the nineteenth century, better methods of preserving food through canning and vacuum packing made out-of-season culinary delights commonplace. There was also an enormous growth in mass feeding. In schools, until the nineteenth century, no one had ever considered lunches for schoolchildren, because there were so few children who went to school. Canteens for schoolchildren started in France in 1849. The cafeteria concept originated in the California Gold Rush, when prospectors, eager to return to their claims, preferred to stand in line to be served from big communal bowls and pots rather than wait their turn at table.
The twentieth century brought fast food industry. In 1921, Walter Anderson and Billy Ingram began the White Castle hamburger chains. These eye-catching restaurants were nothing more than a griddle and a few chairs, but people came in droves to these eye-catching restaurants, and within ten years the White Castle had expanded to 115 units. Marriott's Hot Shoppe drive-in roadside restaurant opened in 1927, and the word "a carhopper" was coined because as an order taker approached a car, he or she would hop onto its running board. The first motel was opened in San Luis Obispo, not far from Los Angeles, in 1925.
After the stock market crash of 1929 and the Depression, America rebounded with the elegance and deluxe dining of the 1930. By the end of the decade, every city had a deluxe supper club or a night club. The first elegant American restaurant that was not French in style was the Four Seasons. It offered seasonal menus (summer, autumn, winter, spring) and art as a theme. Its developer understood why people go to restaurants - to be together and to connect with one another. Modern restaurant exists to create pleasure, and how well it meets this expectation is a measure of its success. The exclusive restaurant of yesterday may be still exclusive restaurant of today, but the less affluent people can choose from great many cheap eating places. Nowadays people have freedom of choice, and they expect to have affordable accommodation, food, and entertainment - things of which hospitality industry is made.
Give the Russian equivalents to the following:
a hierarchy of eateries, to achieve questionable fame as, out-of-season culinary delights, an eye-catching restaurant, the name stands for, an original restaurant, to offer art as a theme, a canteen, a cafeteria, to stand in line, a hamburger chain, a drive-in, a carhopper, an order taker, a deluxe supper club, a developer.
Answer the following questions:
1. What does the name of Cesar Ritz stand for in the history of hospitality?
2. What was remarkable about American eating places?
3. What do the names of Sweeney and Delmonico stand for?
4. How and when were the concepts of canteen and cafeteria developed?
5. What changes in eating habits were developed in the twentieth century?
6. Why do the people go to the restaurant? What do they expect while eating out?
T E X T 2
Read the text about J. Willard Marriott, find in it the Russian equivalents of the following words and phrases:
a founding father, an annual turnover, to analyze the environment and pick up trends, to gear the restaurant toward, an airline catering business, an innovating marketer, to promote by handing out coupons, inner marketing, to have sales of more than, contract feeding.
Джон Уиллард Мэрриотт справедливо считается одним из родоначальников современной индустрии гостеприимства. Он всегда славился своим умением анализировать ситуацию и выбирать правильное направление деловой активности. Он понял важность автомобиля еще в 20-е годы и свой первый ресторан ориентировал на автомобилистов. Его рестораны Hot Shoppe имели очень удобные подъездные дорожки, по которым можно было заехать на стоянку. Он первым наладил обслуживание автомобилистов прямо на стоянке, где они могли перекусить, не выходя из машины. В конце 30-х годов он уловил возрастающую роль самолета как коммерческого транспорта и одним из первых в отрасли занялся ориентированным на него бизнесом.
Мэрриотт был истинным новатором в области маркетинга. Кроме удобных подъездных дорожек к ресторанам, он устраивал гала-представления для посетителей, приглашая на них лучшие оркестры и самых известных шоуменов. О каждом из представлений он оповещал всех окрестных водителей, посылая служащих на оживленные перекрестки, где они совали рекламные карточки своего заведения прямо в открытые окна автомобилей, остановившихся на красный свет.
Мэрриотт был мастером не только внешнего маркетинга, но и внутрикорпоративного. Его всегда отличало чуткое отношение к служащим. Он навещал их, когда они болели, помогал им, если они попадали в беду, и всегда выслушивал, если они обращались к нему с просьбами. Заходя в свои рестораны, он здоровался с каждым за руку. Будучи уже президентом компании, он держал в штате служащего, единственной обязанностью которого было следить за тем, чтобы все работники ресторана были довольны своей работой. О нем говорили, что он был внимательнее к посудомойкам, чем к членам правления.
Сегодня основанная им корпорация имеет ежегодный оборот в более чем 7,5 млрд. долларов и включает в себя огромное количество ресторанов, кафе, пунктов общественного питания и гостиниц. Корпорация также обслуживает по контракту различные предприятия, организуя питание в офисах, колледжах и средних школах.
1. What was the most prominent feature of Marriott as one of the founding fathers of modern hospitality?
2. What did Marriott do to gear his restaurants and hotels toward automobile traffic?
3. What innovations did he introduce for the convenience of the motorists on the road?
4. When did he enter the airline catering business?
5. What did his employees use to do in order to attract motorists to the Hot Shoppes?
6. Why was Marriott called the master of inner marketing?
7. What did the Marriott employees say about the first president of their company?
8. What lodging and food facilities does the Marriott operate today?
T E X T 3
Read the text and find in it the Russian equivalents of the following topical words and phrases:
research and development, a "me too" breakfast, with a choice of fillings, a French toast, to give samples to customers to get their reactions, test marketing, to roll out an advertising campaign, made-to-order, to purchase through the drive-through window.
В начале 80-х годов в ресторанной сети быстрого обслуживания Wendy's начали разрабатывать новую концепцию завтрака. Джим Стабблфилд, в то время бывший вице-президентом компании по исследованиям и развитию, сказал, что из-за неудачных завтраков Wendy's теряет клиентуру. Он думал, что причиной прежних неудач был тот факт, что Wendy's предлагала завтрак типа «и мне тоже самое». Качество и уникальность - вот что должно быть лейтмотивом для завтрака.
Было выбрано три блюда: омлет по заказу с разными включениями, гренки по-французски и сандвич. Вкусовые качества этих блюд апробировались в штаб-квартире компании. Прежде всего, было решено улучшить омлеты. Лаборатория отобрала надлежащие ингредиенты для их производства, затем компания провела рыночное тестирование завтрака: продавцам соседних супермаркетов давали бесплатно новые блюда с целью получения отзывов потребителей. В результате этих экспериментов были внесены некоторые изменения, и затем новые завтраки появились в нескольких ресторанах сети. Было решено готовить омлеты по заказу прямо на глазах у клиента: он мог видеть весь процесс их приготовления.
В течение последующих двух лет Wendy's сохраняла осторожность по отношению к продвижению нового завтрака. Только летом 1985 г. началась массовая рекламная компания, стоившая Wendy's несколько миллионов долларов. И все-таки, несмотря на исследования и осторожность при введении нового завтрака, успеха он не имел по многим причинам. Например, приготовление омлета требовало 90 секунд - небольшое время для одного клиента. Ну а если войдет сразу большая группа туристов? Как заметил один критик, это уже переставало быть быстрым обслуживанием, а именно в быстроте смысл существования ресторанных сетей типа Wendy's.
Write an outline of your summary of the text concentrating on the author's point of view on these facts and your own opinion about them.
T E X T 4
Read the text and be ready to discuss the concepts of modern management.
THE NEW MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS
For many centuries this industry was represented by a great number of independent properties - usually owned and operated by one family. With the progress of rail, automobile (car and bus), and air transportation, society became more mobile. This mobility began to transform hospitality industry to the modern management concepts, such as franchising, partnership, leasing and management contracts.
Franchising allows a hospitality company to expand more rapidly by using other people's money than if it had to acquire its own financing. The franchisor grants certain rights, for example, to use its trademark, signs, operating systems and procedures, marketing know-how, and so on for a certain fee. In return, the franchisee agrees by signing the contract to operate the restaurant, hotel, and so on in accordance with the guidelines set by the franchisor. It is a way of doing business that benefits both the franchisor, who wants rapid expansion of his business, and the franchisee, who has financial backing but lacks specific skills and recognition. Some corporations franchise by individual outlets and others by territory.
Another interesting mode of financing is partnership. Under this plan the people who want to enter the business invest one half the cost of the property, for example, a motel. They receive a salary for managing the property, and the profits from the operations are divided 50 - 50 between the company and the people in question. Using the partnership arrangement, the company gets a chance of more rapid development.
In the 1960s, leasing as a form of financing became popular in hospitality industry. It still exists, but to a lesser extent. The leasing arrangement allows both the individual and the chain to enter the market or expand within it. A property is leased for a percentage of gross sales, generally 20 to 40 per cent. For example, US international hotel expansion began with the lease of a hotel in Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico government wanted to encourage tourism by having a brand name hotel with management expertise. The government leased the hotel to Hilton in return for two thirds of the gross operating profit plus marketing expenses. Leasing gives the benefit of ownership without the initial capital outlay. The lessee is responsible for insurance, hiring and firing, and marketing. In return he gets a major part of every dollar that comes into the business and the major part of every increase in revenue.
Explain in English what is meant by:
a franchisor, a franchisee, a trademark, a reservation system, know-how, for a fee, financial backing, an outlet, a partnership arrangement, gross sales, a brand name hotel, gross operating profit, an outlay, revenue.
Answer the following questions:
What form of financing is called franchising and what advantages does it give to both parties?
What ownership arrangement is called partnership and how is it used in hospitality industry?
What is the difference between franchising and leasing?
What are the usual conditions of leasing in hospitality industry?
T E X T 5
Read the text, find in it the Russian equivalents of the following topical words and phrases:
a boom, up-front financing, a return on investment, a management fee, gross and net operating profit, an incentive fee, rapid expansion, the real estate value, cash flow, equity, a contract provision, an equity partner.
Благодаря широкому распространению контрактного метода хозяйствования гостиничная индустрия пережила в 1970-е годы бум. Популярностью своей этот метод обязан тому, что предусматривает очень незначительное авансовое финансирование, а то и вовсе без него обходится. Даже если корпорация принимает участие в строительстве отеля, собственность обычно возвращается большой страховой компании. Так было с отелем La Jolla в Калифорнии, построенном корпорацией Marriott Hotel. Корпорация вложила в его строительство примерно $ 34 млн. и продала банковской фирме Paine Webber примерно за $ 52 млн. Неплохой приварок к капиталовложению!
Контракт обычно предусматривает управление собственностью на срок пять, десять или двадцать лет. За это компания получает управленческое вознаграждение в виде определенного процента от валового или чистого эксплуатационного дохода - обычно это от 2 до 4,5 %. Сейчас это чаще всего минимальное, двухпроцентное вознаграждение плюс прибавка в виде поощрительного вознаграждения, размеры которого зависят от доходности предприятия. За последние несколько лет усилившаяся конкуренция между управленческими фирмами привела к снижению контрактного вознаграждения. Гостиничные фирмы делают выбор в пользу контрактного метода управления их собственностью, потому что это выгоднее. Это позволяет компании быстрее расширяться как на внутреннем, так и на международном рынке.
В начале 1990-х годов в результате падения цен на недвижимость значительно снизилась и прибыльность гостиничного дела - прежде всего из-за уменьшения притока наличности. В некоторых случаях владельцы заинтересованы в том, чтобы иметь долю в акционерном капитале. Поэтому контракты на управление оговаривают этот пункт. Кроме того, владельцы отелей хотят оказывать все большее и большее влияние на принятие решений - раньше такое случалось крайне редко. Но обычно тот или иной компромисс всегда возможен.
1. What were the consequences of the introduction of management contracts in hospitality industry?
2. Why does management contracting need little or no up-front financing?
3. What return on investment was received by Paine Webber banking firm?
4. What percentage of gross operating profit does a company get as a management fee?
5. What does an increase in the incentive fee depend on?
6. What are plummeting real estate values of the 1990s responsible for?
7. Why do some owners begin to demand equity participation?
8. What else, in addition to equity participation, do the owners want?
REVIEW EXERCISES
1. Using the given Recall Pattern, explain the meanings and interrelations of the key notions which are arranged in it:
Hospitality Industry
Accommodation Feeding Transportation Recreation
Hotel Business Restaurant Business Tourist Business
Inns Taverns Post Houses
Hotels Ordinaries Restaurants Motels Resorts
2. Discuss the following concepts and notions:
the table d'hôte, a la carte menu, catering, institutional food service, a leasing arrangement, franchising, a management contract, B&B, the American plan, the European plan, the fast-food industry, commercial and noncommercial enterprises, a rest house, a hamburger chain, drive-ins, a hierarchy of eateries, a reservation system, a partnership arrangement, up-front financing, an incentive fee, cash flow, real estate, an equity partner,
3. Give your definitions of the following topical words and phrases:
a fare, a beverage, to eat out, a full-service restaurant, a cafeteria, a canteen, overnight accommodation, to cater to, a stopover, a highly-seasoned dish, on the premises, a convivial atmosphere, a landlord, a carhopper, a developer, a trademark, a fee, an outlet, gross sales, a brand name hotel, contract provisions.
4. Translate the following paragraphs. Try to use the topical vocabulary which you learnt while studying this unit:
1. Первые упоминания о гостеприимстве уходят в глубь веков, к временам античности, когда активизация торговли и связанных с ней путешествий сделали необходимой организацию мест для ночлега путников.
2. Римляне создали весьма эффективную систему почтовых станций. Древние персы строили своего рода гостиничные комплексы, совмещающие функции загонов для верблюдов и помещений для ночлега людей, называемые караван-сараями (khans).
3. В средние века, с созданием профессиональной гильдии кулинаров, гостеприимство начало принимать более организованные формы. Многие ценности, выработанные индустрией гостеприимства еще в средние века, остаются актуальными по сей день, например такие, как дружелюбное обслуживание, приятная атмосфера и обильная пища, хотя санитарные стандарты тех гостиниц по сравнению с современными выглядят чудовищными, а условия проживания - убогими.
4. По мере роста городов необходимость в путешествиях увеличивалась. Таверны стали излюбленными местами общения и политических собраний, в чем тоже сказывалось усиливающееся влияние Франции. Появились специальные таверны для простого народа, называемые «ординарными», в которых подавались простые блюда по твердым ценам.
5. В XVI столетии кофейни стали не только излюбленными местами общения людей, но даже способствовали отрезвлению всего континента. Практическая философия управления общепитом направлена на вежливое и умелое приобщение людей к вкусной пище за разумную цену. Рестораны предоставляют людям возможность вкусно поесть и пообщаться друг с другом.
6. Современный этап развития индустрии гостеприимства характеризуется четко выраженным маркетинговым подходом, суть которого состоит в удовлетворении нужд и запросов клиента, а не в получении максимальной прибыли.
7. Прогресс изменил характер гостиничной индустрии, превратив ее предприятия из маленьких постоялых дворов, управляемых их владельцами, в огромные отели и сети гостиниц, которые управляются на основе современного менеджмента.
5. Write a short essay on one of the following issues:
1. The values of hospitality that existed in the past and are still valued today.
2. Changes of the respectability of innkeepers since ancient times.
3. The concept of modern hospitality.
4. How has the tendency for globalization of economy affected hospitality industry?
T E X T 6
Read the text. Define the main idea of each paragraph.
What are the key sentence(s) of each paragraph?
MODERN HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
Being dedicated to the service of people away from home, hospitality industry is concerned with their accommodation, provision of food and drink, their transportation and entertainment. That is why the institutions, which provide these services, are divided into three branches: hotel business (provision of places to stay), restaurant business (prevision of food and drink), and tourist business (provision of transport and entertainment).
The hotels may be classified according to location, prices, and type of services offered. By virtue of their location, hotels may be central (situated in the city center), resort (in exotic locations), airport (for air passengers), and freeway (on the highways). By virtue of prices, hotels can be classified into luxury, upscale, mid-scale, and budget. And by virtue of services offered, hotels may be classified into full-service (with all sorts of services), economy (offering clean, reasonably sized and furnished rooms), residential (for long-term guests), all-suite hotels (rooms with adjacent lounge and kitchenette area).
Classification of restaurants may be based on two factors: menu and services offered. According to the menu, there are two main categories: full-service and specialty restaurants. Restaurants of the first type have more than a dozen main-course items that are cooked to order. Specialty restaurants specialize in one dish (pizza, hamburger, chicken, steak, seafood, etc.). According to the services, the restaurants are classified into occasion (also called luxury) and casual restaurants. Two types of services are used in occasion restaurants: French service (the food arranged on platters and presented to guests, after which the preparation is completed on a trolley-like side table with a gas burner), and Russian service (the food is cooked in the kitchen, placed onto a serving dish, and served to the guests individually with a serving spoon and fork). Casual dining is characterized by relaxed atmosphere, where not only Russian service is typical, but also its simplified version called American service (the food is prepared and put into individual plates in the kitchen before being carried into the dining room), and even buffet-type service (self-service).
The TOURIST BUSINESS deals with promoting, transportation and accommodation. Among the promoters are tour wholesalers (who design and package tours), tour operators (who sell tour packages to tourists and act as escorts (guides), travel agencies (who sell on behalf of airlines, rail and bus companies). The transportation businesses are air-lines, cruise lines, rental auto ami bus companies. The accommodation businesses are motels (hotels for motorists), resort hotels (hotels in exotic places for people on holiday), destination-management companies (organizations in charge of developing and implementing tourist programs in the areas attractive to tourists). The tourist market is divided into segments (user-groups) according to the buying possibilities of the clients: mass, middle and luxury markets. People who travel with a group make a group inclusive tour, and those who prefer to travel alone are called independent. When the people are taught to deal with ecology of the region they are visiting, they are called ecotourists.
T E X T 7
Read the text. Define the main idea of each paragraph.
What are the key sentence(s) of each paragraph?
THE HOTEL BUSINESS
Unlike other members of hospitality industry, such as airlines or restaurant chains, which may develop their businesses in much the same way as a manufacturing company, the hotel industry faces some peculiar difficulties due to its peculiar management and ownership structure.
Airlines, cruise lines, restaurant chains have highly centralized management operations in which strategic decisions are made. Major hotel chains cannot do it because they often even do not own all the proper-lies that they manage, such as restaurants, retail stores, fitness centers, and nightclubs. This creates additional complexity in strategic planning. Besides, owners of hotels often show surprisingly little interest or knowledge of their own properties. Hotels throughout the world have commonly been acquired for the sake of tax benefits, or even as an ego-fulfilling device, particularly in the case of upscale showcase properties.
The hotel business is characterized by a high degree of risk, which primarily is the result of two factors: the cyclical nature of demand and the high degree of capital investment. A greater proportion of profit comes from the manipulation of real estate rather than from the sale of rooms. The great increase in value of the Hilton and Sheraton companies has not come from operating profit but from buying, selling, tax advantage, and in appreciation of value of the hotels with time. The name of the game is financial management and the game is complex.
The hotel industry has never been a leading industry; rather, it generally reacts to circumstances. Frequently, it is caught by outside forces and swept along. In the mid-1970s the US experienced 12 percent inflation and a shortage of good hotel inventory. This meant that there was too much money (demand) chasing too few rooms (supply). The insurance and pension funds industry, which at the time was cash rich, began to invest heavily in new hotels. Many of these were massive, mixed-use commercial projects consisting of hotels, office blocks, and shopping malls. In some cities, these complexes were not built for the right reasons: America's inner cities were in decline. However, because hotels are a catalyst for other businesses, every city mayor offered significant benefits to major hotel investments, including tax breaks. And hospitality industry began to recover from recession.
Find in the text the following topical words and translate them:
a retail store, a fitness center, tax benefit (advantage, break), real estate, lodging, operating profit, financial management, demand and supply, recession.
Answer the following questions trying to use as many topical words
and phrases as you can:
1. Why can a restaurant chain develop its businesses in the same manner as a manufacturing company but a hotel chain cannot?
2. What secondary properties are often acquired by hotels and why?
3. What is a major source of profit of a hotel company?
4. Why is the value of the Hiltons and the Sheratons constantly increasing?
5. What was the situation in the American hotel business like in the 1970s?
6. Why did the insurance and pension funds begin to invest in new hotels?
7. What kind of hotels were mostly constructed in those days?
8. Why did the city mayors offer benefits to hotel investors?
T E X T 8
Read the text, find in it the Russian equivalents for the following topical words and phrases:
the front of the house, the back of the house, housekeeping, a food and beverage division, stewarding, to have a corporate counterpart, immediate superior, revenue and cost centers, dedication, quality control, places of glamour, a cast of players.
Главной функцией отеля является предоставление временного жилья людям, оказавшимся вне своего дома. С точки зрения гостя отель можно разделить на две зоны: жилые помещения и служебные. В жилой зоне происходят его контакты со служащими. Это холлы, коридоры, бары и рестораны. Служебные помещения — это невидимый мир администраторов, прачек, уборщиков и т.д. Фактически отель состоит из нескольких предприятий, каждое из которых ведет учет своих доходов и устанавливает свои цены. Ежедневно тысячи товаров и услуг реализуются отелем. Работа каждого специализированного подразделения требует добросовестности со стороны исполнителей и контроля качества со стороны соответствующего отдела, чтобы множество мелких дел выполнялось как надо. Успех этой работы зависит от согласованности действий огромного количества разных людей. Годфри Блер, управляющий элегантного 800-комнатного отеля «Генерал Эйзенхауэр», называет гостиничное дело «бизнесом, состоящим из мелочей». Другое умное замечание по этому поводу сделал Мэтью Фокс: «Если в гостиничном бизнесе игнорировать мелкие просчеты, они превращаются в крупные».
Журналисты часто называют отели «дворцами». Некоторые из них настолько шикарны, что действительно напоминают дворцы (например такие, как Hotel del Coronado в Сан-Диего), другие — более функциональны. В любом случае, у каждой гостиницы есть свое лицо. Оно создается совместными усилиями всех членов рабочего коллектива — усилиями, в которых материальное стимулирование сочетается с интересом к делу. Для избравших гостиничный бизнес своей профессией нет ничего более стимулирующего, чем атмосфера роскошного отеля. Это живой театр, а его управляющий справедливо сравнивается с режиссером актерской труппы.
1. Into what parts is a hotel divided from the point of view of its guest?
2. What happens in the front of the house and in its support areas?
3. What departments are responsible for food preparation and maintenance of the support areas?
4. What qualities are essential in order to do thousands of little things all the time? What happens if the "little things" are ignored?
5. Why is glamour an important part of the hotel business?
6. How is the hotel's personality created?
7. Why do the journalists often compare a hotel with a theatre?
T E X T 9
Read the text and find in it the Russian equivalents of the following topical words and phrases:
a hotel marketer, the CEO of Days Inn, to be rewarded, to be penalized, to fall short, a sales rep, a meeting planner, a catering department, to meet the customer's needs, to be paid gratuities per table, the contract restrictions.
Майкл Левен, один из лучших специалистов маркетинга гостиничных услуг, стал исполнительным директором Days Inn. Ключом к его успеху как администратора была ориентация на нужды и запросы постояльцев. При Левене служащих всегда поощряли - и никогда не наказывали - за то, что они по собственной инициативе помогали постояльцам, с какой бы проблемой те к ним ни обращались. По мнению Левена, «уровень сервиса падает, когда служащие думают только о том, как угодить своему непосредственному начальнику, а не гостю. Это обычно кончается тем, что вы все больше и больше отчуждаетесь от клиента».
Необходимость быть внимательным к нуждам постояльцев Левен впервые осознал еще 30 лет назад, когда только начинал свою карьеру в качестве администратора в Hotel Roosevelt в Нью-Йорке. Однажды ему позвонил организатор какого-то важного совещания и заказал банкет на 60 человек, попросив накрыть для них 10 столиков и чтобы за каждым размещалось по 6 человек. Левен отправил заказ в отдел, ведавший банкетами. К его величайшему изумлению, заказ вернулся к нему с припиской, сделанной красным карандашом: «Не пойдет! Мы не сажаем за стол по 6 человек!» В ответ на его запрос он узнал, что профсоюз настаивает на том, чтобы за банкетными столиками сидело не меньше 8 человек. Левену ничего не оставалось делать, как позвонить организатору совещания и объяснить ему все. Тот разозлился. «Мне дела нет до вашего профсоюза! Я - клиент! И я пойду в другой ресторан, где к моим интересам отнесутся с большим вниманием!» - заявил он и бросил трубку.
Но вместо того чтобы обидеться, будущий исполнительный директор Days Inn пошел в отдел банкетов и там узнал, что все дело в том, что официанты должны получать как минимум восемь чаевых с каждого столика. Когда Левен опять позвонил клиенту и объяснил ему, в чем состоит проблема, тот сам пообещал дать дополнительные чаевые от каждого стола. Проблема была решена!
Be prepared to speak about this text in class using your outline as a guide.
T E X T 10
Read the text. Define the main idea of each paragraph.
What are the key sentence(s) of each paragraph?
SERVICE CHARACTERISTICS OF HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
The services of hospitality industry have characteristics typical for any service. Firstly, they are characterized by intangibility: they cannot be seen, tasted, felt, heard, or smelled before they are provided. The second major characteristic of hospitality services is inseparability: they are produced and consumed at the same time and cannot be separated from the situation of service. The third major characteristic of services is their variability: lack of consistency resulting from the fact that their quality may vary greatly, depending on who provides them and when, where, and how they are provided. And the fourth major characteristic of services is their perishability: they cannot be stored for later sale or use; if not used now they are lost forever.
Bearing in mind these characteristics of services it is easy to understand the importance of organization image (the way the customers see a hospitality organization) which depends on effectiveness of management strategies meant to tangibilize services (that is, to use physical evidence, such as trade marks, employee uniforms, physical surroundings as promotional means to reduce buyer's uncertainty about the quality of future services). In a wider sense, organization image is a result of service culture (a system of values and beliefs in an organization that reinforces the idea that quality service is the first priority of the business).
Among the ways to improve service culture is proactive marketing (marketing techniques meant to promote the idea that service quality depends heavily on the quality of interaction between the customers and the service people). The people who actually render the services are often referred to as customer-contact employees, in its turn, the quality of these interactions depends on the quality of interaction between the service people and their managers. The relations of this kind are often called internal marketing, which can be defined as effective training and motivating the service people to work as a team to provide customer satisfaction.
Of course, not everything about the organization image depends on the company itself. The intermediaries can do a lot to promote or destroy this image. In hospitality industry, the intermediaries are, for example, the tour wholesalers, the travel agents, the travel writers, etc. That is why the company should work with them, giving them a chance to experience their facilities in low-risk situations, for example, organizing the so-called fam trips (from the word "familiarization", that is "making familiar"). During such trips, hotels provide rooms, food, beverage and entertainment to the intermediaries free of charge, in hope that this experience will encourage them to recommend the hotel. This tactic is often used with travel agents and the meeting planners — specialists in coordinating every detail of meetings and conventions (professional or business meetings, which usually include some form of exposition or trade show). When the airlines offer free tickets (usually called complimentary) to tour wholesalers, it is also a kind of a fam trip, meant to increase the company's business.
T E X T 11
Read the text. Define the main idea of each paragraph.
What are the key sentence(s) of each paragraph?
TANGIBILIZING THE INTANGIBLE
Hospitality services are intangible which means not only the fact that they cannot be seen, tasted, heard, or smelled but also that it is impossible to experience these services before they are purchased. It causes uncertainty in the customers about the quality of services they are going to purchase. Before boarding an airplane, passengers have nothing but a ticket and the promise of safe delivery to their destination. To reduce this uncertainty, the customers look for physical evidence that may provide information and confidence about the service. A hotel's promotional material might include photographs of the hotel's public area, guest rooms, floor plans of a meeting hall (for meeting planners who might like to organize a meeting in this hotel), room capacities and furniture, the photographs of employees in the hotel's uniform, of the exterior of the hotel, etc.
Everything about a hospitality company communicates something that helps to tangibilize its services. Red and white awnings, the outside patio and white striped building wall displaying the signs of the restaurant chain TGI Friday's in large letters tell the potential guests that this restaurant offers informality and fun. A couple looking for an elegant, intimate atmosphere would be disappointed at Friday's.
Similarly, the exterior of the hotel Hampton Inn's suggests that it will provide clean, comfortable and safe lodging at moderate price. When guests arrive, they find no door clerks, concierge desk, or other features appropriate for an upscale hotel. Instead, they find an attentive desk clerk in an appropriate uniform and a small lobby with comfortable but moderate furnishing. In recent years, the so-called "greening" has become popular with the organizations of hospitality industry: the use of outside natural landscaping and the "fern bars" as a part of the interior.
Hospitality companies are very sensitive to protecting the visual image and overall appearance known as trade dress. The McDonald's has brought suit against competitors who dared to copy any form of golden arches. Experts say that to compete effectively in today's market, it is necessary to design an effective trade dress while taking care not to imitate too closely that of any competitor.
Find in the text the following topical words and phrases and translate them:
a promotional material, a floor plan, specific, room capacity, awnings, lodging, a lobby, a door clerk, a concierge, a desk clerk, greening, a fern bar, a visual image, a trade dress.
Answer the following questions:
1. What can serve as a means to tangibilize the experience you are promised to have?
2. What sort of information is usually given in typical promotional materials?
3. What idea does the exterior of the restaurants belonging to the chain TGI Friday's communicate?
4. What does the exterior of the hotels belonging to the chain Hampton Inn's suggest?
5. What term is used in hospitality industry to refer to the use of vegetation as a means to decorate the building?
6. What term is used to refer to the visual image and overall appearance of a hospitality company
7. What serves as a trade dress of McDonald's and what part of it is so valuable for the company that they bring suit against competitors who imitate it?
T E X T 12
Read the text, making a list of topical words and phrases, and suggest their English equivalents:
Одним из решающих факторов, которыми руководствуются посетители при выборе ресторана, является атмосфера заведения. Ресторан в Хьюстоне под названием Burgundy's закрылся, не сумев привлечь клиентов. Фасад из стекла, застеленный ковром бетонный пол, деревянные панели, отделяющие кабинеты вдоль главной стены. Владельцы, видимо, считали, что качество еды и обслуживания привлечет клиентов, но просчитались. Облик ресторана не имел ни «личности», ни «характера».
А вот Casa Bonita, ресторан в Денвере (штат Колорадо), не пожалел денег на создание «мексиканской» атмосферы - на искусственные вулканы и уменьшенную копию скал Акапулько, с которых для развлечения обедающих прыгают ныряльщики. Яркие цвета, мексиканские мелодии и весь антураж вызывают у посетителей настрой на мексиканский коктейль «Маргарита».
Один психолог, изучающий воздействие среды на людей, описал ее как «высокозаряженную» или «низкозаряженную». Яркие цвета, яркий свет, громкие звуки - типичные атрибуты высокозаряженной среды, в то время как приглушенная музыка, неяркое освещение типичны для низкозаряженной среды. Отдыхающие, приезжающие в Лас-Вегас, обычно положительно реагируют на высокозаряженную среду, потому что именно ее ожидали здесь найти. Бизнесмены в командировке, напротив, после напряженного дня предпочитают низкозаряженную. Многие преуспевающие гостиницы и рестораны Гонконга специально создают такую среду как убежище от высокозаряженной атмосферы всякого восточного города.
Write a summary of the text concentrating on its subject matter, the facts discussed in it, the author's points of view on these facts, (d) your own opinion about them.
T E X T 13
Read the text, find in it the Russian equivalents of the following topical words and phrases:
a resort hotel, promotional materials, the main lodge, reception, employee quarters, a van, stress-free relaxation, a hotel voucher, a porter, a store room, a carefully mowed lawn, managing the tangible evidence.
Victoria House - небольшой пансионат на островке в Карибском море, расположенном у берегов Гондураса. В нем нет ни телевизора, ни газетного киоска, и только один телефон. Глядя на океан с пляжа, примыкающего к пансионату, гости могут видеть волны, разбивающиеся о рифы, - прекрасное место для рыбалки. Рекламные брошюры, распространяемые администрацией пансионата среди североамериканских туристов, обещают им отдохновение от стрессов деловой жизни в сущем тропическом раю, о прелестях которого они могут судить по фотографиям, где запечатлены бунгало и пальмы на берегу Карибского моря.
Но когда гости прибывали в этот рай, первое впечатление разительно отличалось от образа, созданного брошюрой. Пансионат состоял из главного корпуса (комната для гостей - на втором этаже; регистратура, столовая и бар - на первом), дома для сотрудников и 12 бунгало для гостей. Шофер служебного автобуса, доставившего гостей из аэропорта, высаживал их между главным корпусом и домом для сотрудников. Вместо потрясающего вида океанских просторов они были вынуждены созерцать заднюю дверь кухни и сохнущие на бельевой веревке простыни.
Руководство не задумывалось о том, что многие из гостей на острове впервые и настроены на иной прием. Что конкретно получил нью-йоркский бизнесмен собравшийся туда? Обещания брошюры избавить его от накопившихся стрессов, билет на самолет, талон на проживание в пансионате и питание. Руководство просто обязано было позаботиться о том, чтобы первые живые впечатления подкрепляли образ «карибского рая», рекламируемого в брошюре.
Осознав свою ошибку, руководство распорядилось провести новую подъездную дорожку, которая доставляла бы гостей к главному корпусу не сзади (чтобы носильщикам было удобнее ласкать чемоданы гостей в камеру хранения), а с парадной стороны. Теперь, сходя с автобуса, гости видят ухоженную лужайку, пальмы на берегу и потрясающие воображение океанские просторы. Все это способствует подкреплению позитивной установки на хороший отдых. В терминологии гостиничного маркетинга это называется «управлять осязаемыми впечатлениями».
1. What sort of place is the resort hotel called Victoria House?
2. What did the promotional materials promise their prospective guests?
3. What does the resort consist of?
4. What did the new guests see upon their arriving at the resort, instead of a breathtaking ocean view?
5. What did the management do when they recognized their error?
HOW TO WRITE AN EFFECTIVE Essay?
Environmental impacts and
the hospitality industry
Abstract
The hospitality sector presents a variety of environmental aspects that, depending on the activity, may have a significant impact on the environment. Its users are consuming resources such as energy and water on a daily basis and generating a great deal of solid waste and effluents. The hotel industry, banking sector and hospitals are examples of some of the sectors that provide us with more information on this issue. This work discusses the main environmental impacts generated by the hospitality sector and highlights the possible environmental strategies that can lead to improvements in environmental management in this particular activity.
Introduction
Most people are aware that there is a need for all of us to take care of the environment, if we are not to threaten the ability of the earth to support future generation. Some aspects of the environment are very obvious from our day to day lives, such as increasing traffic levels, together with the associated air pollution and loss of green belt. Environmental issues, particularly the relationship between our actions and the environmental impacts in terms of primary, secondary and tertiary effects. (Kirk 1996).
Environmental impacts is a study of all the factors which a land development or construction project would have on the environment in the area, including population, traffic, schools, fire protection, endangered species, archaeological artefacts and community beauty. In another way possible adverse effect caused by a development, industrial, or infrastructural project or by the release of a substance in the environment. This also increases the need of sustainability development. It is a development that meets present needs without endangering the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable development is contrasted with other modes of development that lead to social and ecological damage, at both the local and global levels.There are three prime reasons for putting effort into sustainability: first, it preserves our environment for future generations; second, it adds that extra dimension to guest satisfaction, which in turn makes us a more attractive company; and third, it saves costs and improves profitability.
Aim
The aim of the position paper is to critically analyze and discuss the environmental impacts and its effects on the hospitality industry. This position paper will also explain the various positive and negative effects of environmental impacts of the hospitality industry and the methods, strategies adopted to control them.
Main body
Tourism, hospitality and the environment
To say, an environmental impact is the negative aspect of human activity on the biophysical environment. Increasingly consumer attitudes are favouring environmentally responsible businesses. This has extended to travelling where consumers are considering environmental issues when making travel plans and purchases. A reflection of this is seen in the growth of ecotourism, which has grown by 30% worldwide in recent years compared to 8% for traditional tourism. The Conference Board of Canada's long term forecast shows that the accommodation industry will experience an annual growth of approximately 3% between now and 2015 (Eco efficiency centre). This arises sustainability development in the hospitality industry also. The concept of sustainable development has been expanded to cover seven key aspects. They are futurity, inter-generation equality, participation, the balancing of economic and environmental factors, environmental capacities, emphasis on quality as well as quantity and compatibility. Environmental pressures have affected a much wider range of industries. Initially the concern was related only to the industries which caused direct pollution of the environment. But now it has become a wider issue and relates not only to the outputs but also to the whole operation. The hospitality industry also becomes a core industry to be discussed in this issue of environmental factors, as it exposes many of the conflicts which arise in implementing environmental policies. Many hotels and restaurants are situated in the areas of outstanding natural beauty, in historic cities and in regions with a delicate ecological balance. So there might be a question whether this addition of new facilities will destroy the uniqueness or its habitat which is already suffering from too much of development and tourism. But the hospitality industry is linked with various other industry which cooperates together to bring in a successful business which is mainly focused on profit. The hospitality industry is also a major customer oriented industry. So we must also consider customers, many of whom seek as part of the hospitality experience to be pampered with lashing of hot water, high pressure showers, freshly laundered linen, an ample supply of towels, copious supplies of food and drink, the availability of swimming pools and saunas and the limousine to take them to the airport. Whatever we do to reduce the environmental impact of hotels can only be either with the consent of customers or taking the main consideration as customer satisfaction. Many hospitality organizations are situated on a location were that is suitable for the customer or according to the customer needs. And it is therefore not situated in a place where there will be minimal effects from traffic, cooking smells and the noise of the disco and other adverse outputs. This kind of local pollution is not considered to be a big issue, but it does affect people’s attitudes towards the industry.
The hospitality industry does not cause gross environmental pollution nor it consume vast amounts of non-renewable resources and therefore it may not be in the front line of environmental concern. The industry is made of relatively large number of small operations, each of which consumes relatively small amounts of energy, water, food, paper and other resources, and which add only a small amount of pollution to the environment in terms of smoke, smell, noise and chemical pollutants. The industry employs 10 % of the population and can have a major impact in developing awareness and good practice. The push of legislation and the pull of consumer pressure groups, compounded by the cost savings which can result from reducing waste. Many companies are now taking environmental management seriously.
The main environmental impacts due to the hospitality industry are CO2 emissions, CFC emissions, noise, smoke, smells, health of staff, waste energy, waste water, waste food, waste disposal, agricultural ecology, purchasing policies, transportation policies, sale of souvenirs made from endangered species, location of hotels in fragile locations. According to the Annual report of the world travel and tourism environmental review “there is a recognition that environmental issues will become much more prominent as a factor which influences consumers, regulators, pressure groups and destinations and that the tourism industry will need to show increasing concern for these issues. The WTTC have developed a strategy, known as the “GREEN GLOBE”, in order to promote environmental management among hotel and travel environment. These vary from waste management to the development of eco-hotels and the classification of hotels on the basis of environmental impact.
The tourism and hospitality industries often create employment and business opportunities in an area, contributing to the local economy.
Hospitality and tourism buildings and venues are being designed and/or redesigned so that their impact on the environment is reduced and they merge in with the local environment better.
Many enterprises are now employing more sustainable practices in order to promote a green image that appeals to consumers, eg using organic products, recycling, using less toxic chemicals and using more energy and water efficient fittings.
The presence of buildings and tourists may destroy the local environment and habitat of native animals.
The hospitality industry contribute to waste issues, e.g food scraps, oil and chemical disposal. Many hospitality venues are noisy. The hospitality and tourism industries consume a lot of energy and water, e.g electricity for air conditioning, refrigeration. The environmental impact is broadly classified as: aesthetic impact, cultural impact, ecological impact, social impact, political impact.
Aesthetic impact means causing destructive image of a surrounding by various factors such as development etc. The image of a destination possesses importance from a practical marketing perspective for many reasons.
Often hospitality industry fails to integrate its structures with the natural features and indigenous architectural of the destination. Large, dominating resorts of different design can look out of place in any natural environment and may clash with the indigenous structural design. A lack of land-use planning and building regulations in many destinations has facilitated sprawling developments along coastlines, valleys and scenic routes. The sprawl includes tourism facilities themselves and supporting infrastructure such as roads, employee housing, parking, service areas, and waste disposal.
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